In the battle for America’s climate future, it’s “The Terminator” versus “The Decider.” 

Upset over continuing problems with global warming emissions, high oil prices, and a complete lack of action from the nation’s capital, Arnold Schwarzenegger, along with a group of other governors from Western states and Canadian provinces, has formed his own climate coalition, dubbed the Western States Initiative.

The WSI has announced a draft cap-and-trade plan that aims to bring global warming emissions for each of its 11 member states and provinces to 15 percent below 2005 levels by 2020. Even more notably, the plan aims to limit carbon reductions achieved through somewhat controversial carbon offsets, which allow businesses that exceed their carbon caps to buy an offsetting amount of clean energy to make up the difference.

As national- and international-scale action has been limited on anything but long-term carbon reductions, it may be that local initiatives such as the WSI are the most viable method to achieving meaningful greenhouse gas reductions within the next decade.