AGs for Progress...and Denial

Looking over the roll call of states joining California's waiver lawsuit against the EPA, one conspicuous absence is Florida. The state's Republican Governor, Charlie Crist, has made waves with his embrace of the California standards and other clean-energy measures, and climate activists were giddily hopeful that they had some new champions just under a year ago:

Environmentalists are optimistic that Crist and his cabinet -- [State Treasurer Alex] Sink, [Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services Charles] Bronson and Attorney General Bill McCollum -- will take the issue global warming issue to heart, [the Sierra Club's Frank] Jackalone said.

Crist hasn't disappointed in terms of his policies and public cheerleading, and has clearly expressed a willingness to join other states in legal action, starting when he signed his landmark executive orders and continuing through his furious reaction to the EPA's waiver denial. So why not follow through?

It's eminently reasonable to suspect the lack of legal action has something to do with lack of legal and political support from the one aforementioned Cabinet member who has disappointed on climate change, state AG Bill McCollum. As DailyKos front-pager Devilstower reported last week, McCollum has openly questioned the governor's actions and their alleged economic cost, going so far as to send Crist and other state officials a Christmas memo warning that "the science is not all in" on global warming. The memo also included the holiday gift of a DVD on the subject-- namely, a British television documentary called "The Great Global Warming Swindle," which focuses on debunking Al Gore's advocacy and features such noted industry apologists as our old pals Pat Michaels and John Christy.

State attorneys general have been a source of progress on climate change and other key issues in recent years, constructively applying the law to challenges left festering by the federal government. A recent American Constitution Society report aptly argued that far from engaging in "activism," these officials are fulfilling a necessary and historic role, serving their constituents and upholding a dynamic brand of federalism. The true activists here are exceptions like McCollum who (unlike regulatory skeptic and GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul, who has actively supported California's waiver request) let their own personal preferences subvert a clear duty to defend state authority.