Arnie talks the talk

In June, Schwarzenegger had merely set targets. No one knew if he’d go further. Tom Tietz is with the California Nevada Cement Promotion Council. He said a legal limit would be dreadful for business in general, and in the cement business in particular. We still believe that’ll send jobs and production overseas, to countries that don’t have these sort of environmental limits.

But a legal cap on greenhouse gas emissions is absolutely essential, said Karen Douglas of Environmental Defense. Having the governor support the cap is having the governor essentially walk the walk as well as talk the talk. If we don’t have a cap, we don’t have a serious policy.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (Republican, California): I think this is the only way we’re going to find out if we make progress, and if we’re hitting our goals. I think that the first few years, we shouldn’t think about a cap at all. I think we should do it in another way. And then, if it doesn’t work, and if we see we are not quite making the progress that we intended to make, then we can put caps on it.