New England States and Eastern Canadian Provinces Team Up to Tackle Climate Change

Ken Colburn
Amy Royden

Though the federal governments of Canada and the United States may be taking markedly different approaches on the Kyoto Protocol, New England governors and Eastern Canadian premiers are coordinating their efforts to reduce regional greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers (NEG/ECP) is a unique collaboration among eleven U.S. states and Canadian provinces to address a broad suite of topics of common interest. Environmental issues are among those the NEG/ECP has focused on since the early 1980s, resulting in, for example, the adoption of successful action plans to address acid rain and mercury in 1998. More recently, the NEG/ECP turned its attention to climate change.

History
In March 2000, the NEG/ECP convened a conference on climate change in St. John, New Brunswick, focusing on the state of climate change science. This conference led to a resolution that was adopted at the 25th Annual NEG/ECP Conference in 2000 that the governors and premiers should: (1) hold a workshop in the winter of 2000-2001 to examine the regional impacts of global warming, discuss options for reducing GHG emissions, and clarify the need for this region to adapt to climate change and explore methods for doing so; and (2) evaluate the conclusions and recommendations of the workshop from a strategic and scientific viewpoint, and present a summary of findings of the meeting and a recommended action plan to the 2001 NEG/ECP annual meeting.

2001 Climate Change Action Plan
Consistent with this direction, a follow-up workshop focused on policy options and opportunities was held in Fredericton, New Brunswick in March 2001. Subsequently, at the 26th Annual Conference of the NEG/ECP in August 2001, the governors and premiers adopted an ambitious Climate Change Action Plan (see http://www.cmp.ca/res/ccape.pdf) with specified GHG reduction targets and strategies to meet these goals. The plan established a short-term goal to reduce regional GHG emissions to 1990 emissions by 2010; a mid-term goal to reduce GHG regional emissions by at least 10 percent below 1990 emissions by 2020; and to establish a 5-year process beginning in 2005 to adjust the goals as necessary and set future emission reduction goals. Importantly, the plan also stated a long-term goal to reduce regional GHG emissions sufficiently to eliminate any dangerous threat to the climate, estimated to be in the range of 75-80 percent below current levels. Because these are regional reductions, no state or province is individually required to meet each specific target, providing the jurisdictions with flexibility in how the overall target is met.

The plan also listed nine targeted action items, including: (1) establishing a standardized regional GHG emissions inventory; (2) establishing a standardized regional GHG emissions registry to facilitate trading; (3) each jurisdiction establishing a plan articulating measures to achieve GHG reductions in view of the regional short and mid-term goals; (4) leading by example and reducing GHG emissions from the government sector; (5) reducing, by 2025, the amount of CO2 emitted per megawatt hour of electricity use within the region by 20 percent from current emissions; and (6) increasing, by 2025, the amount of energy saved through conservation programs (as measured in tons of GHG emissions) within the region by 20 percent.

Reducing the growth in GHG emissions from the transportation sector is also mentioned, but no target is specified.

A steering committee representing energy and environmental officials from each of the 11 jurisdictions was established and met in December 2001 to organize its efforts and to commence work to implement the governors’ and premiers’ plan. The steering committee launched workgroups to address the longer term action items, but also identified an initial set of cost-effective, readily implementable “low hanging fruit” opportunities to demonstrate the NEG/ECP’s commitment to and progress on its Climate Change Action Plan. Such opportunities included switching to light emitting diode (LED) traffic lights, coordinating a broad “university challenge,” encouraging greater use of biofuels, encouraging the sale of “greener” cars through a consumer labeling program, etc. A resolution approving these recommendations was adopted by the governors and premiers at their August 2002 meeting. (See http://www.cmp.ca/reports_08_2002/27-7_climate_change_e.pdf)

Next Steps
It is anticipated that 2003’s NEG/ECP meeting in September will represent a transitional period for the Climate Change Action Plan. Progress will be reported in the implementation of the earlier “low hanging fruit” ideas identified, and new ideas are expected to be brought to the table. At the same time, initial progress reports on some longer term action items are expected. For example, comprehensive updates to state and provincial GHG emissions inventories are complete for several jurisdictions and underway in others. Similarly, an initial framework for the regional GHG reduction registry is anticipated.

These and other cornerstone steps will provide essential “infrastructure” elements necessary to move forward with the implementation of the emission reduction action items specified in the governors’ and premiers’ visionary Climate Change Action Plan. Already well below national average GHG emission rates, the NEG/ECP is confident that its goals can be met, and that the technology opportunities associated with progressive climate action will add to, rather than detract from, the region’s strong economy. It took a long time to create the current concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide that threaten quality of life in New England and Eastern Canada, and it will take a long time to fix this problem. To their credit, rather than adopting a wait-and-see approach with respect to federal action, the New England governors and Eastern Canadian premiers have voluntarily made the decision to lead by example on climate change.

Ken Colburn is the executive director of the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM) and can be reached at kcolburn@nescaum.org. Amy Royden is a senior staff associate for the State and Territorial Air Pollution Program Administrators (STAPPA) and the Association of Local Air Pollution Control Officials (ALAPCO) and a vice-chair of the Committee, as well as co-editor of this newsletter. She can be reached at aroyden@4cleanair.org.