The Wall Street Journal

Nine northeastern and mid-Atlantic states agreed Thursday to strengthen existing limits on carbon dioxide emissions from power plants that burn fossil fuels.

The new rules announced by the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative would lower the cap on carbon dioxide emissions from the current 165 million tons to 91 million tons in 2014 — a 45 percent reduction from 2005 levels. The cap would be lowered an additional 2.5 percent per year from 2015-2020.