Governor signs global warming pact

Governor Napolitano has signed on to a pact with four other western governors to reduce greenhouse gases.

Arizona and four other Western states pledged Monday to work together to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions to stave off the consequences of global warming.

More precisely, they've agreed to come to an agreement.

The Western Regional Climate Action Initiative agrees to set a regional greenhouse-gas reduction goal within six months. To reach that goal, the governors gave themselves 18 months to craft an approach, such as a cap-and-trade program, to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Cap-and-trade programs usually involve setting a pollution ceiling, or cap, for each company or utility involved. Companies that produce less than their allotted emissions can then sell the credit to bigger polluters.

Cap and trade schemes are favored by economists since they reduce pollution more efficiently than command and control regulations. More later.