Gov. Jim Doyle, along with nine other
Midwest leaders, signed the Midwestern Regional Greenhouse Gas Reduction Accord
at a summit for the Midwestern Governors Association last week in an effort to
stop global climate change.
The accord outlines a plan for nine states
and one Canadian province to establish and promote greenhouse gas reduction.
The leaders plan to reduce greenhouse gases
by numbers consistent with the 60 to 80 percent recommended by former Vice
President Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in their
Nobel Prize winning reports, according to a Thursday release from the
governor's office.
"Governor Doyle led the effort to bring the Midwest leaders together to
sign this historic agreement because global warming poses a grave long-term
challenges for our economy and our environment," said Matt Canter, spokesperson
for Doyle. "The Midwest has the opportunity to lead the way in reducing
pollution that causes global warming."
Support for the accord came from Illinois,
Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and South Dakota as well as
Manitoba, Canada.
Canter also said the accord will create
thousands of new jobs in the Midwest. Liz Boyd, spokesperson for Michigan Gov.
Jennifer Granholm, said the accord would help improve Michigan's economy.
"For Michigan, it's all about jobs," Boyd
said. "We see the energy issue and global warming and the potential for
alternative energies as a job creator for the state of Michigan."
Indiana, Ohio and South Dakota signed the
accord as observers in order to participate in the cap-and-trade system,
another key component to the accord.
The cap-and-trade system, the release said,
would limit emissions by companies, but allow those companies to sell allowed
emissions they don't use to others in need of more emissions. It will
essentially create a marketplace for emissions while keeping the overall levels
the same.
Canter said the accord should be fully
implemented by 2010.
Officials from Nebraska and North Dakota
were present at the summit as well, but did not sign the accord. However, the
two states did adopt the Energy Security and Climate Stewardship Platform along
with their Midwestern counterparts.
The platform will allow leaders to promote
regional initiatives to develop renewable energy sources in order to reduce
dependence on foreign oil.
"Our strong manufacturing base and rich agricultural industries, along
with the wealth of resources in our vast northern forests and our world-leading
research universities, position the Midwest to become the Saudi Arabia of
renewable energy," Doyle said in a release.
Some states, including Wisconsin, are also
starting to come up with their own plans. Boyd said last week Granholm created
a council to decide on a climate change plan for the state of Michigan.
According to Canter, by 2025 Doyle expects
Wisconsin to get 25 percent of its electrical power and 25 percent of its
transportation fuel from renewable resources.