I had a dream about watching one of those high stakes poker games that you see on TV these days. There were bit players who you knew, from the few colored chips in front of them, would soon fold - - but the two "whales" at the table were Barack Obama and Hu Jintao. They each had so many chips on the table that you could barely see their cowboy shirts, but the purpose in their deadly stares could not be obscured, even by the dark black Ray Bans that shaded their eyes.

Obama wasted no time putting his ante smack in the middle of the green felt for all to see - - roll back greenhouse gases to 1990 levels by 2020 and 80% lower by 2050 (a statement made just 14 days after he was elected). Hu countered with a commitment to reduce energy consumption by 20%. Cards were dealt and the players tugged on their caps (Hu's read "Made in China" and Obama's proclaimed "Copenhagen", an obscure reference to either the failed Chicago bid for the 2016 Olympics or the upcoming climate talks).

The American Prez made the first bet - - adopting California's greenhouse gas limits on tailpipes as the national standard. The crowd murmured as they realized this meant he was betting on executive power instead of Congress. The Chinese Prez countered with a commitment to replace 15% of dirty fossil fuels with clean energy, like wind and solar, by 2020. The crowd gasped audibly, realizing that this would double China's current renewable energy supply.

An alternative fuels measure -- similar to California's Prop 7 -- did not appear to have enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot in Missouri. But a judge has reversed that decision, the Columbia Missourian reports. The issue was not the total number of signatures but the initiative's requirement with Missouri's distribution requirement. In Missouri, initiative sponsors must collect a minimum amount of signatures in six of the state's nine Congressional districts.

The initiative in question would require require utilities to use renewable fuels for at least two percent of the electricity they sell in the state by 2011, and for 15 percent of electricity by 2021.

UPDATED: 3 PM. Or maybe not. A consultant for No on 7 says they don't have robo-calls and this wasn't one. The call I received -- on my cell phone, at 9:46 p.m. -- doesn't match the script for the Yes on 7 robo-call. So this must have been -- something else....

ORIGINAL MSG: Just received one opposing Prop 7, which would require utilities to produce half their power from renewables by 2025. The measure is opposed by utilities, but the recorded voice claims that the measure is cooked up by the same people who gave us the electricity crisis in California six years ago. As I recall, the utilities supported the legislation that gave us that crisis.

I'll be out of pocket the rest of Thursday--in transit...

Ralph Nader's challenge to an Arizona law prohibiting non-residents from collecting signatures on presidential petitions has been scheduled for an April 15 hearing before the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

RENEWABLE INITIATIVES: From a small paper in Missouri, a pretty good overview of renewable energy standards in different states, with some attention to those states that have imposed these by ballot initiative.

STILL NOTHING FROM  COLORADO MEETING: Rocky Mountain News says the governor's attempt to head off labor-business initiative war didn't go well. And here's more evidence that the ill will is building.

SAN DIEGO PORT: Opposition mounts to a San Diego ballot measure that could lead to commercial development inside that city's struggling port.