California has already implemented a lot of legislation geared at reducing the greenhouse gasses blamed for climate change. Among that legislation has been a new renewable energy portfolio standard that has led to increased investments in solar energy development. But for those who are skeptical about climate change, there are plenty of other compelling arguments for making comprehensive changes to our energy policies, Shultz said.

“I find that those people are very turned on by national security,” Shultz said. “We have this three-fold set of arguments and will appeal to some people more than others.”

The arguments include saving the world from climate change, saving the country from the threat of terrorism through the exploitation of our dependence on foreign oil, and saving our economy from $7-a-gallon gasoline, Shultz said.

Retired Vice Admiral Dennis McGinn, former Commander of the U.S. Navy’s 3rd Fleet and former Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Warfare Requirements and Programs at the Pentagon, agreed with Shultz that now is the time for action and that California is a good place to start.

“We have been on this roller coaster ride since 1973,” McGinn said. “The dips are going to get deeper, and the turns are going to get sharper, and we need to be very worried that this roller coaster is going to go off the tracks. Our dependence on oil, not just foreign oil, undermines, in a very serious and urgent way, our national security.”

He noted that California, as recently as 15 years ago, domestically produced almost all of its own oil. Now, the state imports half of its oil with about half of those imports coming from the volatile Middle East.

“Those sources are exploitable by those who wish to do us harm,” McGinn said. “There are those who say we are funding both sides of the war on terror with our prolific growth of our dependence on oil.”

Story Continues here.

Pictured: An oil field in Taft, Calif. Image courtesy of Photography For A Greener Planet.