Global Warming In the News

Al Gore, the former vice president turned environmental activist, was on hand Friday as Gov. Jon S. Corzine signed legislation requiring the Garden State to achieve ambitious reductions in emissions of global-warming gases.

New Jersey became the third state, behind California and Hawaii, to pass a comprehensive greenhouse gas reduction law.

"In order to inspire hope and build the enthusiasm necessary to get this crisis solved, it's great to be able to tell 'em in every country that yes, the national government is not doing the right thing yet, it's true, but you need to know that state governments are beginning to take the lead, cities are beginning to take the lead, and citizens of this country are beginning to take the lead," Gore told an enthusiastic crowd of lawmakers and environmental activists who had come to the Meadowlands sports complex to witness the bill signing.

The signing of New Jersey's "Global Warming Response Act" took place on the eve of a series of concerts around the world drawing attention to global warming, including one at The Meadowlands in New Jersey that Gore said he would attend.

The legislation requires the state to reduce global warming gases to 1990 levels by 2020, and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 80 percent below 2006 levels by 2050.

New Jersey is the first state to set global warming targets so far into the future, activists said, and the first to require that energy imports adhere to New Jersey's standards.

Eight other states are considering similar legislation, according to Suzanne Leta Liou of Environment New Jersey, while others have started anti-global warming initiatives.

Emissions from fossil fuels, such as coal and gasoline, are believed by many scientists to be a leading cause of global warming.

Critics of the New Jersey law argued that it would hurt the state's energy industry and that the act contained no specific proposals to lower emissions. The measure nonetheless enjoyed widespread bipartisan support in the Legislature, passing easily before lawmakers recessed for the summer and advancing to the governor's desk.

Under the new law, the Department of Environmental Protection will conduct an emissions inventory, and based on the results, devise a plan to monitor and reduce harmful emissions.

A study by The Associated Press using 2003 data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed that in terms of total emissions of carbon dioxide, New Jersey came in 16th in the country with 123.7 million metric tons; per capita, New Jersey was much lower, in 40th position.

The law mirrors an executive order Corzine issued in January.

"This is the strictest global warming law in the country for two reasons," said David Pringle, campaign director of the New Jersey Environmental Federation. "Because of the mandatory emissions reductions and because of a provision that says out-of-state power producers can't move power through New Jersey without meeting New Jersey standards."

The Live Earth concerts scheduled for today were inspired and backed by Gore's campaign to force global warming onto the international political agenda by generating a groundswell of public concern.

Since leaving politics after his failed presidential run against President Bush in 2000, Gore has focused his efforts on raising awareness about global warming. His documentary film on the issue, "An Inconvenient Truth," won an Oscar earlier this year.

"Vice President Gore has done more than anyone to promote awareness of global warming, and I thank him for his tremendous leadership and advocacy," Corzine said. "I am proud that he will be in New Jersey to witness the signing of this legislation, which places into state law my executive order calling for some of the most sweeping reductions in greenhouse emissions in the nation."