Southern governors hear warning on climate change

WILLIAMSBURG -- Global climate change over the next 20 years will cause intense droughts in the Southwest, floods in the Northeast threatening the coastline and urban areas, and significant storm damage along the Gulf Coast, a panel of Southern governors was told yesterday.

Retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Richard Engel, director of the Climate Change and State Stability program of the National Intelligence Council, told the governors that the changes could also affect U.S. national-security interests -- aggravating poverty, degrading the environment and destabilizing fragile government regimes of nations around the world.

He said that although the U.S. will be "less affected and better equipped than the vast majority of nations to deal with climate change," it will still face challenges. Engel said these range from the costs to control emissions and respond to emergencies, to safeguarding against the potential for terrorists to "obtain and utilize" nuclear material and expertise that will increase as more countries pursue nuclear power as an energy source.

The sobering assessment, accompanied by a presentation on energy and climate security from former U.S. Sen. John W. Warner, R-Va., kicked off the Southern Governors' Association's annual meeting at the Kingsmill Resort & Spa near Williamsburg.

Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine is the outgoing chairman of the association, which has 16 states and two territories as members, ranging geographically from Puerto Rico to Maryland to Florida, and west to Texas.

Eleven chief executives showed up for this year's conference, which is traditionally held in the summer at a five-star resort. Financed by state dues and corporations, it is equal parts policy conference and expenses-paid junket for governors' families and top staff.

Northrop Grumman Corp., the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, Altria Group Inc., Dominion Resources Inc., Exxon Mobil Corp., Capital One Financial Corp. and Norfolk Southern Corp. were among the 70 industry groups that bankrolled half the costs of this year's meeting, attended by roughly 400 people.

Notably absent was Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina, recently embroiled in a sex scandal with an Argentine woman.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who was to succeed Kaine as chairman of the SGA next year, also opted out, having announced this year that he will run for the U.S. Senate. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a rising star in the Republican Party rumored to be mulling a run for president in 2012, also did not attend.

Kaine's theme for this year's meeting was climate change, energy and the environment.

"I think that opened all of our eyes," Kaine said after the climate-change presentation. "This is a big issue, where economics, the environment and national security all intersect."

Kaine's mission was to build regional consensus on how the South -- which produces a disproportionate share of the nation's energy for its size -- can develop more cost-effective and efficient ways of generating power while reducing greenhouse gases and mitigating impact on the environment.

Governors were treated to a detailed analysis of 23 climate-policy options and costs for their region compiled by the nonprofit, nonpartisan Center for Climate Strategies.

Transportation, electricity consumption and industrial fuel use account for more than four-fifths of the greenhouse-gas emissions in the region, according to the preliminary results of the analysis.

The reduction in the growth rate of emissions brought on by reduced energy consumption and new fuel-consumption standards is expected to reduce overall emissions by 10 percent between now and 2020.

Specific numbers for each state were not presented, but governors were thankful for having data and cost information from which they could begin to devise an energy policy.

"I think the biggest bang for the buck because you both save money and you remove a lot [of greenhouse gases] is in the conservation and efficiency investments," Kaine said after the presentation.

However, with great diversity among the states in the SGA in terms of size, development and resources -- as well as politics -- agreement on a regional strategy is, as Kaine put it, "a work in progress."

A number of governors expressed concern that costs to make the South more "green" and efficient be shared among other states in the nation that benefit from the energy the region provides.

"Obviously we all agree on the goals of trying to approach this climate-change issue -- that's cleaning up our air and holding down greenhouse-gas emissions," said Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear.

"The issues that we're wrestling with are in the details of how we do that, the cost of doing it and how those costs are distributed."

Last night, Kaine hosted conference attendees with a dinner on the lawn of the Governor's Palace in Colonial Williamsburg, and tonight he'll host a black-tie-optional Virginia State Dinner in the ballroom of the resort.

The conference, which concludes tomorrow, also will brief governors on efforts to upgrade the nation's electricity grid.

Governors will also discuss regional transportation issues and the impact of federal health-care reform, which will feature a presentation by U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius.

Contact Jim Nolan at (804) 649-6061or .