Five western states - Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona and New Mexico will jointly set standards and develop solutions for dealing with climate change. The five governors signed the Western Regional Climate Action Initiative, which was initiated by (my state of ) Oregon.

Oregon Governor Ted Kulongski said the agreement "sends a message to Congress and the White House that if they fail to enact policies at the national level to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and do our nation's part to combat global warming -- that states will do it on our own."

While we can rightfully criticize the executive and legislative branches for being asleep at the wheel on climate change, in reality, the states know better how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while increasing economic opportunity on a regional level.

If the federal government passes laws or regulations about carbon caps or renewable portfolio standards, the likelihood of waste of taxpayer funds is higher, and states would not benefit proportionally from the funding. Each state has a different set of contributors to emissions (local utilities) and has a different set of solutions that can be used to address the problem (eg. wind power in Arizona or hydro power in Oregon).

States can more effectively develop incentives and grants for the local companies that will create jobs and increase energy efficiency. It is encouraging that states in the west and northeast have banded together to take on climate change.

Federal legislation -- be it for energy, environment, or anything else -- inevitably includes pet "pork" projects that waste tax payer dollars, so having states set the rules would be more cost effective. Federal money is best used in developing new technologies for reducing emissions through it's national laboratories, and that practice should continue.

Am I being naive in looking for the silver lining in the federal government's inaction?