Governors to plot climate fight at meeting

NEW YORK -- Governors from across the United States who bypassed the Bush administration by introducing laws to cut greenhouse emissions are slated to meet this week to broaden their fight against climate change.

At least five governors including Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger from California and Democrats Rod Blagojevich from Illinois and Jon Corzine from New Jersey will meet at Yale University Friday to discuss uniting the developing markets for trading of credits representing carbon emission reductions.

"The reality is that the states are designing the true U.S. climate policy," Terry Tamminen, an environment and energy adviser to Schwarzenegger, said about the meeting.

About 28 U.S. states have formed, or are about to create, mandatory greenhouse emission limits in the absence of federal regulations.

The states hope to fight output of planet-warming gases by creating markets for credits representing emissions reductions to encourage investment in power-saving technologies and low-carbon energy sources. They aim to ultimately combine those with international carbon markets.