IN 2006, the California assembly passed AB32, known in the vernacular as the Global Warming Act of 2006. The measure requires that the state reduce its carbon emissions below 1990 levels by 2020. In this election cycle, that has proven too tempting a political target to ignore, and in November California will vote on Proposition 23 , which would suspend AB32 until the state's unemployment rate falls below 5.5% for four straight quarters (a condition which has been met just three times since 1976, and which seems rather distant with the state's unemployment rate currently running at 12%). Proposition 23 has been largely funded by multi-million-dollar donations from two Texas oil companies , Valero Services and Tesoro Companies. Critics of Proposition 23 argue that the state remains in the running as a global leader in green technology partly because of government commitments to reducing greenhouse-gas emissions; they say "clean tech" jobs employ 500,000 Californians , and that green energy has brought $9 billion in investment into the state since AB32 was passed. Another critic, the electric utility Pacific Gas & Electric , basically says that greenhouse-gas reductions are coming, and preparing for them early rather than late is good for the economy. Supporters of Proposition 23 say there's no point in California reducing greenhouse-gas emissions unless the rest of the world does, too. And they call AB32 a "jobs killer".

In an earlier epoch of human history, round about 2008, Carly Fiorina was a supporter of cap-and-trade limits on greenhouse-gas emissions. She endorsed the idea that they would stimulate investment in clean technology. In 2010, however, Ms Fiorina is running for the Senate as a Republican, making such a position untenable. It is impossible, in 2010, to retain the votes of much of the Republican base while admitting that humans are causing the world to get warmer by burning fossil fuels. On the other hand, it may be impossible to win an election in California without admitting it. So in Ms Fiorina's debate with Barbara Boxer Wednesday night, she tried to fudge the issue. She refused to answer a moderator's question as to whether she believed in man-made global warming. And she said she hadn't taken a position on Proposition 23.

The horse-race political journalism discussion of Ms Fiorina's exchange with Ms Boxer will inevitably focus on Ms Fiorina's hesitation, and on Ms Boxer's quip that if Ms Fiorina can't take a position on this, it's not clear what she can take a position on. That's fluff. The problem is not that Ms Fiorina dodged a question at a debate, though it's true that tolerance for such slippery speech is part of what's wrong with American politics. The problem, rather, is that Ms Fiorina had to hesitate on the specific question of whether humans are causing global warming. Carly Fiorina's tenure as CEO of Hewlett-Packard has been severely criticised, but she is clearly an intelligent woman and in all likelihood recognises that man-made global warming is real. It is troubling that the contemporary state of American political discourse obliges people who know better to stifle themselves on this issue. So long as segments of the American political elite feed voters cynical lines on global warming, and large numbers of voters believe them, America will continue to get the political leadership it deserves, and face the serious consequences of inaction.

(Photo credit: AFP)