global warming news - Governor: Backup plan on global warming needed - San Francisco Chronicle

In an announcement on San Francisco's Treasure Island, Schwarzenegger said he is creating a panel of 23 California leaders to recommend specific actions to prevent the destruction of infrastructure and deal with a depleted snowpack, the spread of disease, intense wildfires and other calamities that would result within the century from climate change. Treasure Island, where three years ago the governor signed the state's aggressive greenhouse gas reduction law, is among many locations in the state projected to be underwater from the sea level rising within a century. It also suggests the state should create a more systematic approach to decide how to pay for prevention efforts and to decide what parts of the state are most at risk. Sunne Wright McPeak, who led the task force that developed the strategy report, called it a "watershed announcement" and said it was a call to action for average Californians to become involved with reducing the impacts of global warming in the state. Toward that goal, state officials were joined by Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who said the company is developing a program that will allow Californians to see the projected effects of global warming in communities throughout the state. Another study by the Pacific Institute estimated that the Bay Area would be most affected by rising sea levels in the state, with San Mateo County facing $24 billion in costs, Alameda County facing $15 billion and Marin County $8.

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