Emissions plan would link West, Canada

SALEM, Ore. — Seven Western states are joining four Canadian provinces to propose a plan to limit greenhouse-gas emissions through use of a "cap-and-trade" system.

The draft plan, made public Wednesday by Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski's office, is aimed at gradually reducing carbon emissions across Washington, Oregon, Arizona, California, Montana, New Mexico and Utah.

The plan, which also would extend to British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec in Canada, is keyed to a cap-and-trade system on utilities and industries that are major sources of greenhouse gases.

Such a system would reduce pollution by requiring those sectors to meet tough standards. Under a cap-and-trade program, businesses that cannot cut their emissions because of cost or technical hurdles could buy emission credits from companies that have achieved cleaner emissions.

The plan was drafted by the Western Climate Initiative, a group created by Kulongoski with California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire in February 2007.

In Oregon, it will affect about 10 utilities and about 50 companies that put out more than 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide each year, officials said.

Officials in Kulongoski's office described the plan as a work in progress and said it will be subject to further revision at a meeting of the group next week in San Diego. A final proposal is expected to be forwarded to leaders of the seven states and four provinces in September.

Kulongoski's global-warming adviser, David VantHof, said that although Congress is considering similar cap-and-trade legislation, the Western states and Canadian provinces aren't willing to wait for the federal government to move to regulate greenhouse gases.

"There is no certainty that that is going to be achieved" in Congress, he said.

One environmental advocate, Jeremiah Baumann, called the draft proposal "an impressive and important step" to approach global warming on a regional basis, but said the plan needs revision.

While the draft plan would begin the cap-and-trade system for utilities and industries by 2012, the plan wouldn't cover transportation and heating fuels until 2015 even though both are major sources of greenhouse gases, Baumann said.

"There are a few significant problems that, if not fixed, mean the program could miss out on the potential for global-warming solutions," he said.