<< Back 10/9/02 Giving California its due respect SMN Go West, young man. That admonition from some literary piece I can’t seem to recall was a license to dream for early Americans: west was where land was free, where adventure awaited, where gold nuggets littered creekbanks and all one had to do was walk by and pick them up, where life was all sweetness and bounty. Perhaps that familiar refrain is about to regain its popularity. California has long been known by us diehard easterners as the land of earthquakes and kooks, but right now it is forging ahead with a political agenda that is proving to be this nation’s counterbalance to the aging ideology of the Bush administration. And from my vantage point atop a hazy mountain in the Great Smokies, I see a lot of sense in what that state is doing. Much more sense, in fact, than what I can find in most of the rhetoric coming out of D.C. Look, George Bush has had his hands full since Sept. 11, 2001. His focus on the war on terrorism has defined a presidency that pre-war was wandering and somewhat befuddled, like FBI agents in search of Eric Rudolph. Now that Al Qaeda has been at least temporarily neutralized, the hawking from the administration is focusing on Saddam and Iraq despite opposition from most of the rest of the world. How this will turn out seems inevitable, but the problems inside this nation won’t wait. So what is California doing that other states might want to emulate? This summer its legislature passed a bill that will regulate greenhouse gases and boost the use of environmentally friendly power sources like wind and solar. The state’s energy plan mandates that 20 percent of its power come from environmentally friendly sources by 2017. The legislation passed by the California statehouse looks and sounds like a well-designed slap in the face to the energy plan of the Bush Administration, which presses for the continued use of fossil fuels. And it is. Democrats control California, from the governor’s mansion to the statehouse to the mayors of most of its major cities. Republicans there are in disarray. There is a general feeling among the state’s current leaders that the Bushies left them out in the sweltering heat during their little electricity crisis. From D.C., Bush’s political advisors are already conceding California in the 2004 election, so there is little reason for him to coddle its leaders. These political realities have settled in and prompted leaders there to actively thumb their nose at the president. There is more than just some sound environmental initiatives, however. Gov. Gray Davis — a controversial figure at best — has also promised state money for stem cell research for which the federal government will not provide funds. For those who haven’t followed this debate, it is one that has been unduly influenced by the extreme conservatives who equate such research to some kind of abortion rights agenda. In truth, the scientific promise from the stem cell research holds miraculous promise. Quadriplegics see it as perhaps their best chance to replenish injured cells in their spines and walk again, and advocates like Nancy Reagan recognize this kind of research as the most likely way of finding a cure for Alzheimer’s. The fact is that many of the embryos used in the research come from women who take fertility drugs, not from aborted fetuses. Despite the evidence, Bush yielded to the most conservative wing of his party. For that, many may be doomed to lives that are less than what they could be. California also recently passed the most comprehensive paid family leave bill in the United States. To pay for it, a new payroll tax was enacted against the wishes of the business community. As a small businessman trying to make ends meet, I can appreciate the need to keep an eye on the tax burden. But the issue here is not just taxation, it is priorities. Here in North Carolina the just-adjourned, Democrat-controlled legislature passed a bevy of incentives for recruiting large industry. Those tax breaks will put more of a burden on existing small businesses to pay the state’s bills. In Washington, Congress and the administration are spending billions to prepare for a war in Iraq that may not be necessary. For my money, I’d rather be taxed to let mothers or fathers stay at home with their newborn children. It just makes sense, especially when billions more in tax money are being spent to remediate children once they get to school and solve woes that might never have occurred if mom or dad had been able to spend more time at home. Perhaps my idealistic, optimistic hormones are just raging out of control, but narrow-mindedness is a shortcoming that is easy to spot. Our leaders in Washington need to remember that fighting terrorism is not the only national priority. (Scott McLeod can be reached at info@smokymountainnews.com)