Rising energy prices and the publics concern over climate change have made for interesting public policy lately. Only a year ago, the whisper of off-shore oil drilling would have been the death knell for any politician in California. But with oil spiking to nearly $120 a barrel over the summer Presidential John McCain headed to the home of the modern environmental movement and site of America's first oil spill to proclaim we should drill more. Clearly concerned about internal polling suggesting this was popular with voters, Democratic candidate Barack Obama hedged his position and also suggested the country needed to drill off-shore. Recently, the County Board of Supervisors in Santa Barbara voted to open the door to more drilling causing the city council to react voting 5-1 to symbolically oppose off shore drilling.
On the same day according to data released at California's annual Climate Change Research Conference. If the 100 biggest cities in the world installed white roofs and changed their pavement to more reflective materials -- say, concrete instead of asphalt-based material -- the global cooling effect would be massive, according to data released Tuesday at California's annual Climate Change Research Conference in Sacramento. LA Times covers the report in detail in their daily coverage.
Meanwhile, not to be "out-greened" the Bay Area's big-city mayors committed to a climate-change compact yesterday. The scope is wide, but details are thin.
San Jose's Chuck Reed, San Francisco's Gavin Newsom and Oakland's Ron Dellums are scheduled to participate in the Silicon Valley Leadership Group's annual Projections event on the Santa Clara University campus, where they'll pledge support for a region-wide approach to combating global warming.San Jose Mercury News reports.
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