ALBANY, New York, Aug. 24, 2005
Eastern States To Cut Emissions
Tentative Deal For 9 States Focuses On Power Plants
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(CBS/AP)
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New York Gov. George Pataki leaves a press conference in July. The governor has led an initiative to freeze power plant emissions at current levels and reduce them by 10 percent by 2020. (AP)
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Interactive Global Warming The greenhouse effect, a look at the Kyoto Protocol and a history of the Earth's climate.
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The Times said the emission controls could result in higher energy prices, possibly offset by subsidies and support for the development of new technology that would be paid for with the proceeds from the sale of emission allowances.
The nine states in the coalition, begun in 2003, are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont.
The states have been trying to reduce power plant emissions in their own region and elsewhere for more than a decade. Several have sued coal-fired power plants in the Midwest over sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions that have been linked to acid rain in the east.
Elsewhere, California, Washington and Oregon have begun exploring a regional agreement of their own.
As outlined in the draft, the regional carbon dioxide control plan would set specific caps on emissions that would drop over time, according to the Times report.
Emissions would be capped at 150 million tons of carbon dioxide a year, a figure about equal to the average emissions in the highest three years between 2000 and 2004.
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