Quick facts about the Western Climate Initiative
By Cronkite News Service
Here are some quick facts about the Western Climate Initiative:
_Launched in February 2007 by Arizona, California, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington. Utah, Montana and four Canadian provinces have since joined
_Thirteen other U.S. and Mexican states are officially observing the WCI’s actions.
_The group announced a plan last week to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 to 15 percent below 2005 levels.
_ The plan’s centerpiece is a cap-and-trade system that includes a limit on emissions that decreases over time and a system that allows utilities and other businesses to trade pollution rights or offset emissions through actions such as planting trees.
_ The plan would begin in 2011 with participants reporting emissions. The cap-and-trade program would begin in 2012 with a three-year compliance period. In 2015, the program would be expanded to include transportation and residential, commercial and industrial fuels.