08/15/2008 GAAS:612:08 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Print Version | Email / Share
Gov. Schwarzenegger Joins Mexican Border States to Fight Climate Change and Increase Green Investment through Public Private Partnerships
As part of the Border States' goal to work together to protect
the environment while growing the economy, Governor Schwarzenegger today announced
that the six Mexican Border States and California have joined together with
Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) and the California Climate Action
Registry (CCAR) in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to combat climate
change.
"Mexico
is an important environmental partner along our borders, and I applaud their
efforts," Governor Schwarzenegger said. "This first-of-its-kind public private
partnership highlights Mexico's
proven commitment to reduce global warming pollutants while providing an avenue
for green industries to begin investing and creating jobs in the region."
The MOU will be signed today at the XXVI Annual Border
Governors Conference (BGC) by representatives from California,
Baja California, Sonora,
Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon
and Tamaulipas on the public side and PG&E and CCAR on the private side. The
signatories will engage in projects focused on reducing global warming
pollutants while also providing our states on both sides of the border with
clean air, water and reduced exposure to toxic pollutants.
PG&E's voluntary emissions reduction program, ClimateSmart,
gives residents in California the
opportunity to voluntarily offset their global warming emissions in projects
that address our clean air and water goals as well. The states will collaborate
with PG&E and CCAR to choose projects based on their ability to provide
substantial pollutant offsets while economically benefitting PG&E, its
customers and the industries in which investment is made.
"Through today's partnership, PG&E continues to demonstrate that we
must take action now to fight global warming and to reduce our dependence on
fossil fuel," said Peter Darbee, Chairman, CEO, and President of PG&E. "This
partnership will not only help PG&E's ClimateSmart program reduce emissions
on behalf of its customers through added projects, it will also drive
innovation in the voluntary carbon market."
The MOU will help lead the way
toward increasing green investment, increasing green jobs, stimulating the
economies of the six Mexican Border States and reducing the pollutants
contaminating our atmosphere. California
attracts nearly 50 percent of all green tech venture capital investment in the U.S.,
and with continued effort, the Mexican Border States will increase their share
in the emerging green economy.
