A Cosmic View of Beverly Hills

After the collapse of the international global warming negotiations at the Hague in November of 2000, Fund for the Environment's Science Advisor, Harvey S. Frey, M.D., Ph.D., Esq. began to urge that ordinary citizens, not just the experts, had better get involved.

I had met, the previous year, with the Governor of Kyoto who took great pride in the Kyoto Protocols on Global Warming. I had also met with a Nobel Prize winner on the subject of ozone depletion.

However, not until now have we seen an up-to-date scientific evaluation of the potential consequences of climate variability and change on our part of the world.

"Climate Change Impacts on the U.S." was released by Cambridge University Press, 11/00. It is a report of the National Assessment Synthesis Team. NAST is made up of experts from governments, universities, industry and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Details on how to obtain the report may be found at www.usgcrp.gov.

Here's what it has to say about the West, including California which is the world's sixth largest economy: The key issue will be changes in availability of water supplies. This is a major factor in our economy, as agriculture now uses 85% of California's water and is still the #1 factor in our economy. Tourism is a close second to agriculture in California.

Shortages will also mean a significant increase in the cost of water, affecting residential quality of life and making local industry and commerce less competitive with other geographic areas.

Because, Beverly Hills' economy relies so heavily on tourism, it is imperative that the city council and the Chamber of Commerce begin to educate themselves on the subject of global warming, as it may affect the city.

Adopting resolutions, urging action be taken by the U.S. to achieve agreement and ratify the Kyoto Protocols, would be an excellent first step. Such resolutions should be forwarded to the president and to California's Congressional delegation. It's the very least we should do.

Getting Ready: SB 1771, authored by State Senator Byron Sher (D-Stanford) is only a beginning step. It's in preparation for the U.S. signing of a global warming treaty.

It requires the creation and maintenance of a California Climate Action Registry. Among those emissions contributing to global warming which will be voluntarily recorded are: Carbon dioxide (CO2), hydrofluorcarbons (HFCs), methane (CH4), oxides of nitrogen (N2O), perflurocarbons (PFCs) and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6).

Quite a sinister brew,this recipe for global warming.
And the registry will be posted on the Internet.

Those California entities which participate in this voluntary effort may be afforded special consideration for their trouble. However, that may not come until treaty-required cutbacks in such greenhouse gases becomes mandatory.

Think and Act both Locally & Globally