LOS ANGELES, Aug 31 (Xinhua)-- The California
Assembly on Thursday approved a groundbreaking bill to reduce its greenhouse gas
emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, making California the first U.S. state that
will meet the Kyoto Protocol.
The bill, AB 32, was forged in a deal on Wednesday
between the legislature's Democrats majority and the Republican Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger. It was approved by the state Senate on Wednesday evening.
"Today, we are taking a stand to curb this crisis. We
have the will, ability and solutions to slow global warming and encourage
technology that can help the rest of the world," said Assembly Speaker Fabian
Nunez, who co-authored the bill.
The bill, passed by a 47-31 vote, will authorize the
California Air Resources Board to begin a process of measuring the amount of
carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases coming from industries.
Once a tally is taken, regulators would set limits
for each facility and industry that would take effect beginning in 2012.
Regulators will be able to enforce limits with
financial penalties and provide market-based incentives to industry. The bill
will also create a new market that would allow industries whose emissions are
below limits to sell credits to other companies that exceed their caps.
The 1990-level emissions cap would be the toughest
greenhouse gas requirement nationwide. California, the 12th largest carbon
emitter in the world if counted as an independent economy, has to cut its
industrial emissions by 25 percent on current levels.
"We can now move forward with developing a market-based system that makes California a world leader in the effort to reduce carbon emissions," Schwarzenegger said on Wednesday.
