Western America is leading green with the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006

The efforts of the five Western states of Oregon, Washington, California, Arizona, and New Mexico have joined a compact to reduce carbon emission. The five states are hoping that their proactive approach to tackling climate change will send a message to the Federal government to pass national legislation and other states will join the compact. The Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski stated that he hopes the compact "sends a message to Congress and the White House that if they fail to enact policies at the national level to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and do our nation's part to combat global warming, that states will do it on their own."

The compact will make use of its geography and demographics to achieve an environmentally friendly electricity network. The region's electrical distribution system is relatively compact where roughly 75% of Americans who live west of Denver live in a relatively narrow strip 100 miles wide on either side of Interstate 5. The hydroelectric power of Northwest dams and wind farms with the fossil-fuel power plant complexes in Arizona and New Mexico are connected by the Bonneville Power Administration. This arrangement allows the seasonal export of Northwest hydro power south in spring and summer to cool the Southwest and the flow of otherwise idle fossil-fuel generated power north to heat Northwest in winter.

The compact is also looking to expand their network and has extended an invitation to Wyoming, Montana, and Canadian British Columbia.

Canadian B.C. Hydro has an enormous hydroelectric generating capacity and already sells to the American market. Montana and Wyoming have large mine mouth fossil-fuel powerplants that sell electricity to the Pacific Northwest and the Southwest. This is an attractive arrangement for the cap-and-trade emission control envisioned for Western America.

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