Global Warming in the Boston Globe

There were two interesting articles in the Globe recently that discussed issues surrounding Global Warming. First, there was an interesting Op Ed, from Brian Thurber and Berl Hartman, on the need for leadership on Global Warming in New England by one of the Governors.

With momentum building for meaningful climate protection across New England, there is an opportunity for our governors to reclaim leadership on this most critical issue. Starting tomorrow, we will see who steps up.

In the second article, a Peter Howe piece on Governor Patrick's efforts on conservation, I think we've found ourselves an answer.

But Patrick contends that the state can conserve at least that much more electricity every year and keep overall demand frozen indefinitely, for much less than the cost of building new power plants.

I don't know what the Governors of Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Maine are doing to combat Global Warming, but certainly some interesting ideas are being cooked up in Massachusetts. Freezing the growth of this state's energy use won't stop Global Warming, but doing so could create the sorts of ideas that will. Furthermore, having a Governor who is strongly pushing leadership on this issue can go a long way to bringing other states into the fold.

The best part of Governor Patrick's plan is that the timetable he sets to accomplish his goal, 2010, isn't some far-off date, one where he won't be around to be held accountable. If anyone is sick of politicians making goals for 2050, let's get together and start a chorus. What we need is to start with reasonable goals - one's we can accomplish in one or two terms. On an issue as important as the prevention of Global Warming, it's good to see the Governor of Massachusetts actually leading.