QUEBEC – Governors from New England states and premiers of eastern Canadian provinces said Tuesday they would study limits on greenhouse gas emissions as a possible regional alternative to the Kyoto Protocol.

A resolution calling for the Northeast International Committee on Energy to “evaluate and recommend options for reducing greenhouse emissions from the electricity sector” was one of nine approved at the two-day meeting involving six U.S. states and five Canadian provinces.

The U.S. government has rejected the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement that calls for mandatory reductions in greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming. Canada’s government says it intends to ratify the 1997 protocol but has come under pressure from the energy industry not to do so.

Gov. Jane Swift of Massachusetts told the closing news conference for the 27th Annual Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers that studying emissions limits did not contradict U.S. policy.

Having states set limits on emissions “is compatible with the Bush administration’s perspective that we have to deal with this in a regional way,” Swift said.

She called cooperation between Canadian and U.S. bodies on the issue a sign of progress, while Premier Bernard Lord of New Brunswick said working together on greenhouse gas emissions could set an example for other regions.

Another resolution called on the U.S. and Canadian governments to increase funding for research on air pollution and take “economically feasible measures” to reduce air pollutants that cause health problems downwind.

New Hampshire Gov. Jeanne Shaheen said states can help by buying low-emission vehicles for state fleets, buying energy-efficient office machines and retrofitting state buildings with energy conservation technology. New Hampshire has already begun such efforts, she said.

States also were advised to install traffic lights that use LED technology, she said.

The traffic lights would pay for themselves in two or three years because they use only 15 percent of the electricity consumed by regular lights, and “It’s a very visible project that the public can see,” Shaheen said.

An update to the group’s climate action plan signed last year reported stronger indications of global warming such as glacial retreat and longer ice-free periods on lakes and waterways.

The meeting stressed closer ties between the United States and Canada, with Monday’s talks focusing on speeding the flow of people and goods across the border while maintaining tighter security in the post-Sept. 11 era.

On Tuesday, Quebec Premier Bernard Landry mentioned a common North American currency as a possible long-term goal, noting the strength of the Euro showed the tendency toward a monetary union. Others also called for closer relations but said steps such as a common currency were far off.

Vermont Gov. Howard Dean said his state wants to get more hydropower from Quebec that is cleaner than the electricity generated from fossil fuels in the United States.

Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Roger Grimes said negotiations on a 2,000-megawatt hydropower project in Labrador that would serve U.S. markets should be completed this year.