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Oregon joins western states, provinces in climate initiative Oregon is once again leading the campaign to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The state recently joined five other western states and two Canadian provinces in the Western Climate Initiative. The members of the initiative have agreed upon a regional goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 15 percent below 2005 levels by 2020. The states formed the initiative when the governors of Arizona, California, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington, Utah and the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Manitoba decided to work collaboratively on the issue. According to a news announcement in the EERE Network News, published online by the U.S. Department of Energy, by August 2008, the members of the initiative plan to create a market-based mechanism, such as a carbon cap-and-trade program, to achieve the goal. See the agreement here. The regional goal does not replace or supersede the goals set by the individual states and provinces. For instance, Oregon has set a goal to stop the increase in greenhouse gas emissions by 2010, then to reduce emissions to 10percent below 1990 levels by 2020 and to 75 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. Those goals were codified into state law this year. Read the press release from Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski. |
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