California to join Northeast states´ greenhouse initiative

Oct. 17 -- California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said his state will partner with seven Northeastern states to battle global warming.

Schwarzenegger traveled to New York on Oct. 16 and along with New York Gov. George Pataki announced that California would be partnering with the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, an effort spearheaded by Pataki.

California recently adopted a greenhouse gas reduction program calling for the state to reduce carbon emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, a 25 percent reduction. The program includes mandatory carbon emission caps for large generators beginning in 2012.

The northeastern states taking part in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative are New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey and Vermont. The initiative calls for those states to achieve 10 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from power plants by 2019. Their agreement also includes a mandatory cap-and-trade program for carbon dioxide emissions.