A couple of two very different places were in the news today. First, an analyst at Brookings has an interesting take on Russia's Arctic ambitions. While the Arctic has long held promise as a new, faster, northern route for transporting goods between continents, it's still going to be awhile before it's economic. Further, as Russia's infrastructure decays, it's going to be harder for that county to assume the prominent role it aspires to. (As we saw a few days ago, the low price of oil is going to slow it down even further.)
More happily, the Guardian has a writeup on some anti-climate change bills awaiting their fate in the California legislature. One would establish a goal of 50% petroleum use reduction by 2030, and another calls for an 80% drop in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. These are ambitious goals, but California has led the way for the US so many times before, dating back at least to 1967 when noted socialist Ronald Reagan created the California Air Resources Board (wikipedia link) prior to the Feds putting together the Clean Air Act.
How about some California Love?
