Thank goodness for California

Who hasn't picked up on this story from the NY Times this morning?

The shiny happy state that is California (don't they look overly happy?) has proposed to slash emissions by 25% by 2020. The slashing wouldn't begin until 2012, and the proposal hasn't quite fully passed through all of the necessary republicans, but this is an exceptional move in my opinion for a few reasons.

For one thing, just the fact that state governments are taking responsibility where the white house leaves off should be comforting to Americans nationwide. Another thing that makes this great is that once (when, hopefully not if) this proposal becomes a reality other states will follow suit.

Of course there are businesses and manufacturers that will threaten to leave the state, but the auto industry also said it would fold after CAFE standards were introduced. We're still driving cars, and I seriously doubt California's economy will crumble.

Finally, this proposal is additional evidence that climate change and energy issues are in fact a political hot button - let's just hope all the happiness actually transcends the photo op and translates into cleaning up the air and meeting emission reduction targets.