California Touts Aggressive Plan To Reduce Greenhouse Gases

(AP) - California would aggressively reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 under an ambitious plan announced by Gov. Jerry Brown.

The governor issued an executive order Wednesday to set a target of reducing emissions by 40 percent below 1990 levels over the next 15 years. The rules aim to curb global warming.

It goes further than a federal plan to cut carbon-dioxide emissions by 30 percent by 2030, with 2005 levels as the starting point.

Brown's order aligns California's greenhouse-gas reduction targets with those of leading international governments ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris later this year. The 28-nation European Union has set the same target for 2030.

Brown didn't lay out specifics on how to reach the goal but says climate change would factor into government planning.