Energy's "greatest referendum in history" {so far}

Schwarzenegger cheers climate change rollback's defeat at conference

November 16, 2010 - Emboldened by what Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called clean energy's "greatest referendum in history," California officials are pushing ahead with a new greenhouse gas deal with foreign countries.

Schwarzenegger on Monday launched his third Governors' Global Climate Summit at the University of California, Davis. He said this month's landslide defeat of Proposition 23, a ballot measure backed by oil companies that would have rolled back the state's landmark climate change law, shows broad support among voters for policies to cut greenhouse gases.

The two-day California climate summit, co-hosted by the United Nations, has attracted more than 1,500 attendees from more than 80 countries.

Held at UC Davis' Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center, its speakers and participants include actor Harrison Ford, British Prime Minister David Cameron and Nobel laureate and climate change expert Rajendra Pachauri.

In many ways, the summit underscores the clean energy achievements of the UC Davis campus and efforts to develop a green energy economy in the Sacramento region. {read rest}