In the past year the Governor of California has challenged the “environmentally challenged” to listen to scientific research on important issues about the environment, health, biological research, and respect for work. In a Washington Post article, many of these ideas were summarized on the heels of Gov. Schwarzenegger’s State of the State Address. There are several issues that have been discussed on this blog that call for some affirmation of Schwarzenegger’s views.

Firstly, has proposed a plan to cut vehicle emissions by 10%, and oil refineries will be required to reduce the carbon content of their fuel over the next decade or so. As he was quoted as saying, “Our cars have been running on dirty fuel for too long.” He is also requiring the Air Resources Board to set new standards for oil refineries that sell fuel in the state. Each of these will contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gases, the chief cause of global warming. And California’s governor recently signed a ground breaking agreement with Great Britain to collaborate on climate change and clean energy research.

California also (along with a few other states) is leading the way in stem cell research. The Bush administration has refused to support the growing need to expand stem cell research, so as usual, the action is at the state and local level. California is also proposing universal health coverage, as well as funds to improve the environment and education.

Change from the bottom up is a powerful way to make change nationally and globally. Although the U.S. has a strong commitment to the environment, the actions are extremely mixed. Depending on the political winds blowing from Washington, we wax and wane on real solutions to the key environmental issues. Rachel Carson’s groundbreaking research culminating in her book Silent Spring resulted in a wakeup call for all of us, and kicked the U.S. Congress into action to create the Environmental Protection Agency. State action as we are seeing in California might cause some “happy feet” to start to dance in Washington. We’ll see.