On Thursday at a regional summit on energy policy and climate change hosted by the Midwestern Governors Association, the governors of ten Midwestern states signed two agreements that address global warming. The two pacts--the Energy Security and Climate Stewardship Platform for the Midwest and the Greenhouse Gas Accord--were signed by governors from Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, and Kansas, while Indiana, Ohio, and South Dakota signed on as observers. Currently, the Midwest--which makes up 22% of the United States' population--generates 27% of the country's emissions.

According to a press release announcing the pacts, they will:

"Establish greenhouse gas reduction targets and timeframes consistent with MGA member states' targets;

Develop a market-based and multi-sector cap-and-trade mechanism to help achieve those reduction targets;

Establish a system to enable tracking, management, and crediting for entities that reduce greenhouse gas emissions; and

Develop and implement additional steps as needed to achieve the reduction targets, such as a low-carbon fuel standards and regional incentives and funding mechanisms."

Over the next twelve months, the group will establish specific emissions reduction targets and an overall strategy for the plan, which is to be implemented in thirty months. The plan ultimately calls for a reduction in carbon emissions between sixty and eighty percent with different limits for each state depending on their emissions levels. In addition, the pact sets the goal of reducing energy consumption by 2% by 2015 with 2% reductions each year, offering ethanol-based gasoline known as E-85 at 15% of gas stations, and generating 10% of the region's electricity from renewable resources by 2015 with a goal of 30% being from renewable sources by 2030.

The signing of the Midwest agreements coincided with an announcement from Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm that a Michigan Climate Action Council has been formed that will come up with recommendations for reducing the state's output of greenhouse gas emissions, lowering energy consumption, and reducing the need to purchase energy from out-of-state suppliers. The Michigan Climate Action Council will consist of thirty-five representatives from the public and private sector, including environmental groups and representatives from utility corporations. The panel has been charged with producing an interim report on the issue by April of 2008 with a final report released in December 2008. The formation of the Council was accompanied by an executive directive calling on the state to reduce its energy use by 10% by 2008.

It is refreshing to see the states of the Midwest and the government of Michigan talking--and pledging to do something--about global warming. However, the plans being discussed highlight some of the many difficulties with finding solutions to global warming. The plan outlined by the Midwestern Governors Association focuses heavily on technological solutions such as biofuels or pumping carbon dioxide (CO2) into the earth rather than releasing it into the atmosphere. According to the preamble to the report, it is written to meet the challenge of "how to address climate change while sustaining and enhancing economic growth and job creation." Author George Monbiot, who recently wrote a book titled Heat that explores much of the science around global warming and proposed solutions, argues that ultimately people are going to have to accept the idea that aspects of our current lives are unsustainable. However, the Midwestern Governors Association report fails to even consider any larger discussion about sustainability and the notion of progress, instead focusing on solutions that would allow for the maintenance of current levels of "progress" without demanding any sacrifice.

Many of these new technologies--such as biofuels--come with the promise of allowing for essentially infinite economic growth. However, various studies have pointed to the fact that biofuels may cause considerable damage to the environment including the cutting of rainforests. While this plan mentions E-85--which could presumably be made of corn grown in the Midwest--researchers have raised questions about the amounts of corn available for . At the international level, there is serious concern that in the so-called "Third World" crops for use as biofuels might be grown in place of food and set off a humanitarian crisis.

Similarly, "cap-and-trade" schemes such as the one contained in the Midwestern Governors Association plan setup markets through which companies and other entities can "sell" carbon credits. While such schemes differ in their particulars, basically, they involve companies being allotted a certain number of pollution "credits." If a company cuts its emissions below allowed levels, it can sell its "credits" to another company on an open market. With the carbon trading system developed as part of the Kyoto agreement, this has resulted in considerable profits for some of the companies that generate the most pollution while doing little for the environment.