Last month, leaders in 31 states -- representing more than 70 percent of the U.S. population -- see the creation of the Climate Registry, which is based on voluntary reporting of statewide emissions, as a necessary first step toward developing mandatory, federal regulations on global warming-causing emissions.
With legislation dictating a 25 percent reduction by 2020, California has already taken the lead on reducing carbon emissions. The Hawaii state legislature recently passed a bill similar to California's, and Washington state and the states that make up the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative have started to reduce the emissions caused by power plants in their states.
The list of founding member states and tribes thus far includes:
- Arizona
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Hawaii
- Illinois
- Kansas
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- Montana
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- Utah
- Vermont
- Washington
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
The Campo Kumeyaay Nation and two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Manitoba, have also committed to participate.
Registry representatives endorse the need for a tool to measure, track, verify and publicly report GHG emissions accurately, transparently and consistently across borders and industry sectors -- a critical first step in developing robust programs to reduce GHG emissions.
