Foreword.

• Author: Waxman, Henry A.

As an alumnus of the UCLA School of Law and a Board member of the Emmett Center on Climate Change and the Environment, I am especially pleased to highlight our law school's role as a leader in legal scholarship on climate change law and policy.

The Emmett Center is dedicated to advancing law and policy solutions to the climate change crisis and training the next generation of leaders in creating these solutions. The Center's important work includes interdisciplinary study to develop policy tools for decisionmakers locally, state-wide, nationally, and beyond.

The law school also houses this Journal. This issue is a joint effort with the Emmett Center and is a forum for state policymakers to reflect on their actions on climate change and their roles in light of potential federal action.

This year--2009--is a year of decision on energy security and global warming. I want to outline the policy issues as I see them, and the imperative that we address them. There is a compelling need to address both energy and environmental issues, and we now have a historic opportunity to do so.

For nearly four decades, we have been too dependent on imported energy. Last year's soaring oil prices were a searing reminder of our economy's reliance on fuel sources we do not control. The American people have had enough. Thirty-five years after the first Arab oil embargo, it is time for us to act.

With respect to the environment, there is no responsible disagreement that warming is occurring. The dangers we face are real: more damage from drought that eviscerates agriculture, more storms like Katrina that devastate entire regions, more brush fires that burn through the West, and more infestations that destroy forests throughout the country.

At long last, we have a chance to tackle the extraordinarily serious problem of global warming while we strive for energy independence at the same time.

The common denominator of energy security and global warming is more efficient energy use and alternative energy sources.

Energy and the environment are intrinsically linked to our economy. And the challenges we face in each area need to be solved together. A piecemeal approach will not work.

THE FIRST PROBLEM IS OUR DEPENDENCE ON FOREIGN OIL.

The United States possesses less than 2% of the world's oil, yet consumes almost 25% of the world's annual supply. This is an unsustainable equation.

At the height of the oil price crisis last year, the United States imported approximately...