UND climate change expert reflects on California emissions stance California has announced sweeping new controls on emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), the main gas in the mix that is causing global temperatures and is likely implicated in climate change. This tough environmental stance bodes well for UND sustainable, renewable, and other energy research, a renowned UND climate scientists says. It's a very big move and one that's a key signal to the rest of us that we simply go on business as usual in terms of how we consumer energy and what pollutants we emit, said Will Gosnold, chair and professor of Geology and Geological Engineering and a world-recognized authority on global warming and climate change. It might just be a wake-up call for the rest of the country, and that would be a good thing. California has a set an ambitious target of a 25 percent reduction in CO2 by 2020 by controlling the emissions from public utilities, factories, oil refineries, and cement plants, Gosnold notes. This follows earlier policies to more strictly curb auto and other transportation emissions. The deal between the Democratic-controlled Legislature and the Republican governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, calls for a 25 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2020, and could establish controls on the largest industrial sectors, including utilities, oil refineries and cement plants. California Gov. Schwarzenegger said the deal would make California a world leader in the effort to reduce carbon emissions. Read a UND Faculty Q&A with Dr. Gosnold about global warming and climate change at http://www.und.edu/faculty_qa/08092006.html .