On August 22, 2007, as expected, the Western Climate Initiative (WCI) announced agreement on a regional GHG reduction goal. The WCI partners consist of the States of Arizona, California, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Washington (in the United States) and the Provinces of British Columbia and Manitoba (in Canada). The goal is to achieve an aggregate reduction of 15% below 2005 levels by the year 2020. The WCI effort does not supplant specific State or Provincial efforts, such as AB32 in California, but instead is intended to be complimentary. Indeed, many of the partners already had established their own goals.

The agreement commits the partners to reductions in GHG emissions (including all GHGs recognized under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change) from all sectors, including energy supply, residential, commercial, industrial, transportation, waste management, agriculture, and forestry.

Between now and August 2008, the WCI partners will work to develop a market-based mechanism (read: cap-and-trade program) to achieve the goal.