Globally, 11 of the 12 years between 1995 and 2006 ranked among the warmest since 1850 according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world’s leading authority on the subject. How the Pacific Coastal region responds to the issue of global warming will shape the future of not just the region's environment, but also its economy, its communities, and its way of life. 

By working collaboratively to shape policy and facilitate aggressive action on climate change, the Pacific coastal region will lead the world in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and slowing global warming.  While no individual action is too small to matter, it will take the full engagement of government, individuals, business, First Nations and Tribes, environmental advocates, and the academic and scientific communities to turn down the heat.

Regional Best Practices:

• All five of the Pacific coastal jurisdictions - B.C., California, Oregon and Washington as members, and Alaska as an observer, belong to the Western Climate Initiative, a collaboration of seven western U.S. states and four Canadian provinces to to work together to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the region, focusing on a market-based cap-and-trade system.  Click here to learn more about cap-and-trade.
  
• The Climate Registry is a non-profit collaboration among North American states, provinces, territories and Native Sovreighn Nations that sets consistent and transparent standards to calculate, verify and publicly report greenhouse gas emissions into a single registry.
  
• In September 2007, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin signed Administrative Order 238,  creating the Climate Change Sub-Cabinet. The Sub-Cabinet advises the Office of the Governor on the preparation and implementation of an Alaska climate change strategy.
  
• The Climate Action Plan is British Columbia’s roadmap to a new, prosperous, green economy for the province. It outlines strategies and initiatives to take B.C. approximately 73% towards meeting the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 33% by 2020, including North America's first revenue-neutral carbon tax.
  
•  AB 32, the landmark California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, established a comprehensive program of regulatory and market mechanisms to achieve  quantifiable, cost-effective reductions of GHG. Visit California’s Climate Change Portal for more information.
  
• In 2007, Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski signed House Bill 3543, setting forth agressive greenhouse gas reduction targets of 75% below 1990 levels by 2020. The bill also established a Global Warming Commission and the Oregon Climate Change Research Institute in the Oregon University System.