Emissions Down, Economic Growth Up in Northeast [AUDIO]

New Jersey, and other states in the Northeast, are leading the way when it comes to clean energy policies.

A new report by Environment New Jersey entitled, A Record of Leadership: How Northeastern States are Cutting Global Warming Pollution and Building a Clean Economy, finds New Jersey and the nine other states that take part in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) have cut carbon dioxide emissions 20 percent faster than the rest of the nation. This, as the region's gross product per capita grew 87 percent faster than the rest of the United States.

"It goes to show, clean energy can be both good for the environment and the economy," said Matt Elliot, Clean Energy Advocate at Environment New Jersey. "The economic growth in our region has outpaced economic growth in any other part of the nation even while we've been reducing pollution and promoting clean energy."

"New Jersey's experience over the past decade gives us confidence that, with state leadership and more strong policies to promote clean energy and to limit carbon emissions, we can continue to make progress in meeting our goals for reducing the pollution that causes global warming," said Elliot.

"Unfortunately, after a decade of leadership on climate change and clean energy, we're moving backward, not forward," said Elliot. "We've seen little more than rollbacks and broken promises on these issues, even clean energy programs implemented by previous administrations are successfully cutting pollution and growing the economy. The Renewable Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) has been a key part of our efforts to promote energy efficiency and clean energy while creating jobs that will improve the quality of life for our citizens. We can and must strengthen the program so we can secure even more gains in the future."