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Maine and 8 Other States Pledge to Reduce Emissions by Another 30 Percent

FILE- In this Oct. 26, 2011 file photo, wind turbines line the hillside at First Wind's project in Sheffield, Vt.
Toby Talbot
/
AP Photo/File
FILE- In this Oct. 26, 2011 file photo, wind turbines line the hillside at First Wind's project in Sheffield, Vt.

Nine states in the region, including Maine, say they will set more aggressive limits on pollution by electricity generation plants.

The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI, is a market-based cap-and-trade program that sets limits on carbon-dioxide emissions in participating states. Power generators can buy and sell emission allowances under the program, and it produces revenues that the states largely invest in energy efficiency.

Since 2009, regulated CO2 emissions have dropped by roughly 40 percent. Now the states plan to drive down emissions another 30 percent by 2030.

Environmentalists, such as Dylan Voorhees of the Natural Resources Council of Maine, are applauding the consensus targets reached by governors of both parties.

“We are experiencing a time when the federal government and the White House are withdrawing from leadership on climate change, and this is an example of states stepping up to lead on climate change. And that’s very promising,” Voorhees says. “And very important.”

The new limits are not yet set in stone — there will be a comment period and the issuance of an economic analysis before its finalized.

This story was originally published Aug. 23, 2017, at 5:37 p.m. ET.

A Columbia University graduate, Fred began his journalism career as a print reporter in Vermont, then came to Maine Public in 2001 as its political reporter, as well as serving as a host for a variety of Maine Public Radio and Maine Public Television programs. Fred later went on to become news director for New England Public Radio in Western Massachusetts and worked as a freelancer for National Public Radio and a number of regional public radio stations, including WBUR in Boston and NHPR in New Hampshire.