Green Daily

Eighteen US states have given the figurative finger to the Bush administration. Representatives of the states gathered at a conference at Yale University and pledged to take action on climate change, a commitment that' s been notably absent at the federal level.

To be fair, Bush finally came to the climate change table last week, or at least hovered nearby with an interested expression, with his belated acknowledgement that the US needs to actually do something at a national level. However, he offered no concrete plan and indicated that American participation in any international treaty would be contingent on China doing the same.

By contrast, the states participating in the conference signed a declaration that expressed a willingness to influence the feds, and also to act independently. The latter tactic, of course, hasn't always been successful in the past, as when the EPA put the kibosh on California's attempts to increase auto emission standards.

California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger spoke warmly at Yale of the current crop of Presidential candidates, asserting that either Clinton, Obama, or McCain would all be good for the environment.

States which signed the declaration against climate change were Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Virginia and Washington.