Cliff Chen of the Union of Concerned Scientists issued a statement this week lauding California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s signing of an executive order to facilitate renewable energy project development in the state.

Cliff Chen of the Union of Concerned Scientists issued a statement this week lauding California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s signing of an executive order to facilitate renewable energy project development in the state. (For the full statement, visit www.ucsusa.org/news/press_release/gov-schwarzenegger-CA-33-RES-0158.html)

According to Chen, Schwarzenegger also proposed draft legislation to increase the amount of electricity generated by renewable energy sources, with a goal of 33 percent by 2020.

Could this be another case of California taking the lead on environmentally friendly power generation that other states may follow? We’ll have to see how renewables fare in the Sun Belt, but it wouldn’t be the first time a wave started in California and moved east.