California has created an outstanding record in pushing for reductions in global warming. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of the few politicians who truly understand the gravity of the problem and has taken it upon himself to lead with his plan for climate change.

The international political community continues to struggle in its attempts to find consensus for a global climate change policy. At the Copenhagen climate summit, it has virtually become a standoff between India and China at one side, and the Western world on the other side.

In this challenging political environment, California seems to be playing it out differently from the rest of the United States and also Europe. Just three years ago, amid objections from the then President George W. Bush and other Republicans, California passed a historic law on saving the environment, called Assembly Bill 32. The law commits the state to reduce carbon emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.

The state government in California is setting an example for the corporate world to emulate. All state owned buildings have been mandated to comply with “green” standards for construction and operation. New vehicle purchases by the state are conforming to low emission standards as well.

While global warming seems to have become a political tug of war for the rest of the world, California is forging ahead with its climate change plans, despite dissent from various sectors, including many state Republicans.

California has initiated major legislative measures towards reducing global warming, including incentives and plans for low polluting transportation, wider use of renewable energy resources, and severe restrictions on large polluting industries. AB 32 includes a series of climate control proposals that would become law in 2012. It includes implementation of a cap-and-trade program on carbon-dioxide emissions that will enforce more judicious use of energy resources, require oil companies to produce cleaner fuels, and utilities to deliver at least one-third of their energy from environment-friendly sources such as wind, solar power and geo-thermal power.

This is a visionary plan for climate change.  California also envisions the development of “walk-able cities” with shorter commuting distances, high-speed trains as a substitute for air travel, and inducing the use of hybrid vehicles to move goods and people, subsequent to the enforcement of California Clean Car law.

This is the classic case of a state that is leading a quiet pro-environment battle from the front, without waiting for others to act first. One hopes that the world draws inspiration from California’s plan for climate change, before it becomes too late!