Poor connectivity has delayed getting this out, so if it turns out to be old hat, forgive me. Otherwise, this seems truly something to celebrate.
After all the years of questing rewarded only by fleeting but encouraging sightings of 'laws already in place that had some of the essential characteristics of Wild Law', miraculously the elusive grail has appeared in all its pristine glory.
The event occurred in the State of California on 22 July and has been widely witnessed. Thanks to Governor Arni Schwarzenegger (Republican) and a State Senator by the name of Joe Simitian (Democrat), we now have some real Wild Law in the form of Senate Bill 1399, albeit rather modest in scope.
Its purpose is to liberate trees and shrubs from previously existing controls over their existence and growth should they happen to cast shade on solar collectors installed after they were planted.
While this may not seem to be much, it would seem to be Wild Law pure and unadulterated as it effectively gives rights to plants, and does so over a whole raft of anthropocentric concerns which normally be expected to take precedence in consumerland.
Those wishing to make a pilgrimage to the site of where the miracle was revealed can visit The New York Times at
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/23/us/23solar.html
However be aware that the yokels filing the report were entirely oblivious to the magnitude of the event they are covering, and completely overlook its significance in favour of rustic humour and grunge reporting of the unseemly dispute which happened to presage the incarnation of this measure.
A better account can be found at
http://origin.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_9961578?nclick_check=1
Braver souls undeterred by the experience of Sir Galahad may wish to try for a full revelation themselves, for whom a highlighted PDF of the legislation is attached (please email if you would like a copy). From the Wild Law perspective, the operative parts are:
Section 2 - which places restrictions on the amount of shade a tree or shrub may cast upon a solar collector; and
Section 6 – which exempts pre-existing trees and shrubs from the entire chapter.
Clean copies can be had from this link, where the evolution of the bill can also be found:
http://info.sen.ca.gov/cgi-bin/postquery?bill_number=sb_1399&sess=CUR&house=B&site=sen
As in the Grail mystery, let us hope that this may be followed with more and increasingly generalised sightings, and that it will herald in a age of renewed peace and harmony on Earth.
In passing there are a couple of other reasons to take heart from this story. The first is the phenomenal pace and scale at which California is setting about greening itself under Arni's leadership. That this can be done at all, let alone in the face of a federal administration hostile to the entire concept, speaks volumes of how much can be achieved given inspired and enlightened leadership and a reasonable level of popular support. Whilst this puts almost all other politicians currently in power to utter shame for their inertia, shortsightedness and most of all their inability or unwillingness to recognise that if economic interests are not subordinated to responding to environmental catastrophe the game is up for all of us, it also proves how fast things can change in a big way once the will is there. There are yet grounds for hope.
Following on from that is the inspiration to be drawn from Arni's miraculous conversion at the personal level. Quite leaving aside the Terminator and other movies, here is a man who has gone from thinking he was green whilst driving around in a gas (petrol) fueled Hummer when he first took up office, to being one of the most outstanding environmental leaders on the planet. Testimony to that is the extraordinary fact that he is apparently being cited for an environmental post in the next administration under either presidential candidate
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/14/us/politics/14schwarz.html
Whilst he still began with a good nose in front of most politicians, if Arni can do it, the possibility of epiphanies remains for all.
As to The Terminator, it would seem fairest to judge the man by his own standards. To quote the last article:
'Mr. Schwarzenegger also offered some praise for Mr. Obama, saying he disagreed with people who have criticized the senator as a flip-flopper.
'Someone has, for 20 or 30 years, been in the wrong place with his idea and with his ideology and says: “You know something? I changed my mind. I am now for this.” As long as he is honest or she ís honest, I think that is a wonderful thing.'
The Republican candidate for 2012? From recent experience, things can only get better!
Smile and be happy
steve
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