Environmental Defense Praises Eight Northeast Governors for Releasing Model Rule to Guide Reduction of Global Warming Gasses

(New York) – Environmental Defense praised the release today of a model rule to guide the implementation efforts by eight Northeast states in the Northeast Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) to significantly cut heat-trapping pollution.  The program - which was adopted by the Governors of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine late last year - features the nation’s first cap-and-trade program for global warming pollution. Maryland adopted legislation in March requiring the state to join the program

“This is a watershed moment in the fight against global warming,” said Jim Marston, who heads the efforts to address global warming at the state level for Environmental Defense, which championed the RGGI program, along with business groups. “We commend Governor Pataki and the other Northeast state governors for their leadership on this vitally important issue. Now it’s time for federal legislators to take their heads out of the sand and pass federal legislation to cut global warming pollution.”

Beginning in 2009, emissions of CO₂ from power plants in the region would be capped at 121 million tons annually, with this cap remaining in place until 2015. The states would then begin reducing emissions incrementally over a four-year period to achieve a 10 percent reduction by 2019.