(Bloomberg) -- California Governor Jerry Brown ordered emissionsof greenhouse gases reduced to almost half of what they were aquarter century ago, the most ambitious statewide effort to combatclimate change in the U.S.

Brown, a 77-year-old Democrat, issued an executive orderestablishing a target of 40% below 1990 levels by 2030. To do so,the state must require utilities to get more electricity fromlow-pollution sources, compel industries to cut smokestackemissions further and encourage greater numbers of cleaner cars onroads.

California, with the seventh-largest economy on the globe,already has some of the toughest carbon pollution regulations inthe U.S. and is on target to meet its self-imposed deadline to cutemissions to 1990 levels by 2020. Now, Brown and other Democraticleaders are looking to advance those climate change policiesfurther even as business leaders warn they put companies at acompetitive disadvantage.

“California is taking the most aggressive steps to deal withpollution and the effects of climate change,” Brown said Wednesdayat the Millennium Biltmore hotel in downtown Los Angeles. “Doingthat is totally compatible with the economy.”

Brown said California has been compelled to act on its own asRepublicans in Washington and other U.S. states remain resistant toscientific evidence that manmade carbon pollution is causing globalclimate changes. His proposals have raised concerns from the oiland natural gas industry, manufacturers and Republicans, who warnthe policies will raise energy prices and drive business toless-expensive regions.

Pace setting

His executive order directs agencies to incorporate climatechange in their planning and investment decisions and requires thestate to consider global warming when drafting infrastructurebuilding plans.

It also calls for an update to the “Safeguarding CaliforniaPlan,” a state report on climate change, to identify how it mightaffect California infrastructure and industry and what actions thestate can take to reduce the risks.

“We’re demonstrating in California that we can take steps toreduce carbon emissions while advancing the economy at the sametime,” Brown said. “In North America, California is now setting thepace.”

In January, Brown outlined a series of environmental goals aimedat reducing carbon emissions in the next 15 years, includingcutting petroleum use in cars and trucks by 50%, doubling theefficiency of existing buildings and increasing to half fromone-third the electricity delivered from renewable sources.

Democrats who control the state Senate in February unveiled apackage of bills to increase the state’s renewable energy mandateto 50% by 2030, force public pensions to divest from coal companiesand require regulators to establish rules to cut petroleum use inhalf. The efforts would be guided by a new advisory committee thatwould try to advance the goals while spurring economic growth.

--With assistance from James Nash in Los Angeles.

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