Globe and Mail energy reporter Shawn McCarthy begins a three-part series today on California’s greenhouse gas policies – a batch of political initiatives that are helping to re-elect Governor Arnie Schwarzenegger in a season when most Republican politicians are pushing themselves onto the endangered species list.

Aside from positioning his economy to be a world leader in alternative energy technology, Arnie proves that being right-wing doesn’t have to mean being in the pocket of the energy industry – a lesson that clearly escapes the Canadian Conservatives in Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Calgary camp.