ALBANY, N.Y. – Ten Northeastern governors have pledged to develop a regional strategy to limit carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, New York Gov. George Pataki said Thursday.

The agreement stemmed from overtures made starting in April by Pataki administration officials to other Northeastern states to form an alliance. Governors in Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, Delaware, Maine, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Rhode Island have indicated their interest in participating.

Maryland officials said they might join the coalition later, officials said.

Pataki said in a release the goal is to “develop an effective regional strategy” to cut carbon dioxide emissions. Carbon dioxide is regarded as the most common of the “greenhouse” gases, which are blamed for global warming.

Pataki said he would like the states to adopt a regional approach within two years. States’ representatives will gather in September to start developing an initiative.

Gavin Donohue, head of the Independent Power Producers of New York, said his group has been urging the state for years to develop a market-based system of letting power generators earn and trade carbon dioxide emissions credits.

The Bush administration has favored such an approach to reducing emissions and have encouraged states to experiment with them.

“The air emissions, the particulates, from these plants transcend state boundaries,” Donohue said. “To do this in a regional approach is a wise public policy. A New York-only cap would only be another disincentive to New York [power] generators.”

Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney told Pataki, a fellow Republican, in a letter this week, “I share your interest in ensuring that the economic and security contributions made by our electricity generating system are not negated by the impact of emissions from that system on the health of our citizens.”

Reducing carbon dioxide emissions would also improve the efficiency of the region’s power grid, Romney said.