California set to adopt sweeping global warming plan

California air regulators on Thursday were considering a new climate plan that would require the state’s utilities, refineries and large factories to transform their operations to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

The California Air Resources Board was expected to adopt what would be the nation’s most sweeping global warming plan, outlining for the first time how individuals and businesses would meet a landmark 2006 law that made the state a leader on global climate change.

It would hold California’s worst polluters accountable for the heat-trapping emissions they produce – transforming how people travel, utilities generate power and businesses use electricity.

At the heart of the plan is the future creation of a carbon-credit market designed to give the state’s major polluters cheaper ways to cut emissions.

If adopted, the plan would set clear strategies for how the country’s most populous state plans to cut emissions at a time many governments around the world are struggling with a financial crisis that threatens to undermine efforts to fight climate change.

California’s 2006 law, called the Global Warming Solutions Act, mandates the state to cut emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.

The strategy chosen by air regulators relies on 31 new rules affecting all facets of life, from what fuels Californians put in their vehicles to what kind of air conditioners businesses put in their buildings.