In the battle against climate change, the gloves are off in New Jersey. Governor John Corzine (D) has signed into law a mandate to reduce greenhouse gases by 2050. The law makes New Jersey the latest state to sidestep the Bush administration, setting its own mandatory regulations to combat the emissions associated with global warming.

"We want to send a message to Washington. Wake up, get with the program and start doing something about greenhouse gases," Corzine told reporters at Giants Stadium on the eve of former Vice President Al Gore's international Live Earth concerts.

The Global Warming Response Act mandates economy wide cuts of greenhouse gas emissions by about 16 percent by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050 in the country's most densely populated state. - Yahoo News

Scientists have determined that emissions need to be dramatically cut to counteract the cataclysmic effects of global warming. Several U.S. states have taken the initiative to act as the federal government has yet to pass mandatory emissions regulations, which President Bush opposes in lieu of voluntary cuts.

Congress is considering various bills designed to cut emissions by employing offsets and other mechanisms to swap the right to pollute; it is unlikely any such bill would pass during the remainder of Bush's term.

The New Jersey greenhouse gas law is seen as even tougher than one recently enacted by California, as the 80% reduction by 2050 is an enforceable mandate, not a target. Gore said he will include the New Jersey law in future presentations of his global warming slide show.

The Garden State plans to fight emissions through the promotion and development of renewable energies, such as solar and wind power, and through conservation education. Emissions from vehicles, the largest source of the emissions in the state, will be dealt with by encouraging public transportation, car-pooling and rail shipping of goods in lieu of trucking.

The law has met with a fair degree of opposition. New Jersey's largest utility concern, Public Service Enterprise Group, believes higher power prices are an inevitable result of the signing. "It won't be cost effective. Customers will need to pay more," said Chief Executive Ralph Izzo at the bill signing ceremony. The New Jersey Business and Industry Association is also against the law, predicting it will raise fees and put undue power in the hands of state agencies.

Environmentalists, though encouraged, are bracing for a tough fight, admitting that renewable energy currently provides a very small portion of the state's power.

"We need to be careful of congratulating ourselves on this legislation because the hard work is yet to be done," said Doug O'Malley, the field director for Environment New Jersey, a green group that helped form the law. - Yahoo News