Eleven US states have decided to follow California's low carbon fuel standard, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said on Wednesday.

"By working to adopt a regionally recognized Low Carbon Fuel Standard these states are taking the important steps needed to fight global warming," Schwarzenegger said.

Schwarzenegger made the statement after the states of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont signed a Memorandum of Understanding to work toward adopting a regional Low Carbon Fuel Standard modeled after California's first-in-the-world standard.

"Today's action moves us closer to a national Low Carbon Fuel Standard which is the right policy to reward innovation, expand consumer choice for transportation fuels and fight climate change," said Schwarzenegger.

"I applaud these states for moving forward in adopting a low carbon fuel standard that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect the environment," he added.

In 2007, Schwarzenegger announced the Low Carbon Fuel Standard for transportation fuels that requires fuel providers to reduce the carbon intensity of transportation fuels sold in California.

This first-of-its-kind standard firmly establishes sustainable demand for lower carbon fuels without favoring one fuel over another. To start, the standard will reduce the carbon intensity of California's passenger vehicle fuels by at least 10 percent by 2020 and more thereafter.

(Xinhua News Agency December 31, 2009)