California on Thursday adopted the most sweeping plan in the United States to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to fight global warming, local media reported.

Approved unanimously by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), the plan will cut the state's emissions by 15 percent over the next 12 years.

The plan outlines for the first time how individuals and businesses would meet a landmark 2006 law that made the state a leader on global climate change.

This amounts to an average cut of four tons of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases for every person in the state.

The move includes a cap-and-trade plan that would permit industries to trade pollution credits to meet the targets more cheaply.

Most of the reductions in California's emissions will come from more detailed regulations that will be written over the next few years.

California's 2006 law, called the Global Warming Solutions Act but commonly referred to as AB32, mandates the state cut emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.

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

The average Californian, for example, could see more fuel-efficient cars at dealerships, better public transportation, housing near schools and businesses and utility rebates to equip their homes to be more energy efficient.

"We have laid out a path that, if followed, can transform our economy and put us on the road to a healthier state," said Mary Nichols, head of the state Air Resources Board.

"The task of coping with global warming is not something California can do alone and not something that will be finished in2020. It is something our children and grandchildren will have to cope with as well. But if use this road map, we are putting California on the right track to transform our economy in a way that is good for our environment, for our health, for our future."

The blueprint, which would be implemented over the next two years, puts California at the forefront of national climate policy at a time when President-elect Barack Obama has vowed to push ahead with national efforts to control emissions.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said Thursday that California was providing a roadmap for the rest of the country.

"Today is the day we help unleash the full force of California's innovation and technology for a healthier planet, a stronger and more robust economy and a safer and more secure energy future," Schwarzenegger said in a statement released after the board's vote.

"Estimates show that California's environmental policies will create hundreds of thousands of jobs and increase economic production by the billions," said the governor.

An air board analysis published in September projected California's economy would grow at a faster rate by cutting emissions.

It also estimated 100,000 more jobs would be created and the average California household would save 400 dollars a year by driving more fuel-efficient vehicles and living in more energy-efficient homes.

Worldwide planet-warming gas emissions have been growing far more rapidly than scientists had predicted. And in California, with a fast-growing population and sprawling suburban development, emissions were on track to increase by 30 percent over 1990 levels by 2020.

The state is expected to experience severe damage from climate change, including water shortages from a shrinking snowpack, increased wildfires, rising coastal sea levels and pollution-aggravating heat waves.

(Xinhua News Agency December 12, 2008)