Southern governors discuss climate change, energy

WILLIAMSBURG

The South leads the nation in energy production, but when it comes to combating climate change, it finishes last compared to other regions.

On Saturday, the Southern Governors Association, 18 elected heads from Texas to Puerto Rico, took up the volatile issue for the first time during its annual meeting, which this year is at the Kingsmill resort.

The conference continues through Monday, with another hot-button topic on tap for the final day: health care reform.

As the chairman of the association this year, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine got to pick the primary subject for discussion, and he chose climate change and energy policy.

The idea was a difficult sell at first, according to several officials who helped to organize the event, and only came about when Kaine promised to merely start a conversation and not push any specific agenda.

Not surprisingly, the opening debate Saturday was both spirited and pointed.

At one stage, Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue asked how scientists can reliably forecast global temperatures into the next century if "we can't even predict what the weather will be like later this afternoon."

Similarly, West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin III said he strongly opposes a proposed cap-and-trade strategy pending before Congress. And he warned that any plan that significantly hikes energy costs will not only hurt his state's ability to compete for businesses and jobs but also put the United States at a huge disadvantage against China and India, economic giants that are not party to worldwide negotiations on climate change policy.

Former U.S. Sen. John W. Warner, who spoke as a former climate-change skeptic and current supporter of the cap-and-trade approach, said Manchin's point about China and India "is the toughest question of all."

After all, China recently surpassed the United States as the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, which are thought to exaggerate global warming.

But the answer, Warner insisted, is simple.

"The U.S. is the only super-power, and people look to this country for leadership," he said.

Without U.S. participation and pressure, Warner added, China and India never will get involved, and the planet's long-term stability as well as America's security interests will only suffer.

"We're going to have to move out and take a couple steps knowing they're not going to immediately follow," the retired Virginia Republican said. "Maybe by Step 3, they'll recognize they need to get going, too."

If there was any consensus Saturday, it was for an analysis of the costs and benefits of what lies ahead for the South on climate change.

Conducted by the Center for Climate Strategies, the study had been commissioned by the governors association earlier this year.

It compiled reams of data for each of the 16 states and two territories within the group, and made numerous state and regional recommendations for the cheapest and most effective methods for cutting greenhouse gases.

Even skeptics praised the work, with Georgia's Perdue saying, "This is the type of analysis we need," one that represents "a good starting point, not based on assumptions and emotions."

Of the 18 association members, five have action plans on climate change: Arkansas, Florida, Maryland, North Carolina and South Carolina. These plans formed the backbone of the analysis.

Virginia adopted a report on climate change last year after months of meetings by a special commission appointed by Kaine. But that document was not included in the calculations for lack of sufficient data.

Kaine said afterward that finding common ground will be difficult, adding that any regional compact like the one approved by states in the West and the Northeast is unwanted and impractical.

"We're in very different places politically," he said.

Still, because the South is abundant in agriculture and forests, as well as military bases, Kaine said, there are some good areas for the states to begin working together.

Of the 18 executives invited to the meeting Saturday, 10 attended - Bev Perdue of North Carolina, Bob Riley of Alabama, Haley Barbour of Mississippi, Jay Nixon of Missouri, Luis Fortuno of Puerto Rico, Martin O'Malley of Maryland, Steven Beshear of Kentucky, as well as Georgia's Perdue, West Virginia's Manchin, and Kaine.

Scott Harper, (757) 446-2340, scott.harper@pilotonline.com