SACRAMENTO, - California catapulted to the forefront of US efforts to fight global warming on Wednesday with an accord that will give the state the toughest laws in the nation on cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has accused fellow Republican President George W. Bush of lacking leadership on climate change, said he reached a "historic agreement" with Democrats to make California a world leader in reducing carbon emissions.
"The success of our system will be an example for other states and nations to follow as the fight against climate change continues," Schwarzenegger said in a statement.
The bill now seems certain to win approval this week in a vote in the Senate and the Assembly, where Democrats hold majorities. Thursday is the last day of the legislative session ahead of November elections.
Despite opposition from within his own party, Schwarzenegger was expected to support the bill since he has made much of his environmental record in his reelection bid.
Green policies are popular among voters in environment-savvy California, the world's eighth-biggest economy and the 12th largest producer of greenhouse gas emissions.
California's Global Warming Solutions Act aims to cut emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 with an enforceable cap and mandatory reporting for top polluters like energy companies.
The United States is the world's largest producer of the heat-trapping gases that many scientists link to extreme weather like violent hurricanes and rising sea levels.
But Bush pulled the United States out of the 160-nation Kyoto Protocol to cut greenhouse gas emissions in 2001, arguing that it would hurt the economy and unfairly excluded developing nations like China.
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
