New Jersey's governor is pulling out of a 10-state regional greenhouse gas reduction effort, saying it's ineffective at combatting climate change.  Maryland's Gov. Martin O'Malley has taken his counterpart to task, saying he's "simply wrong."

“The whole system is not working as it was intended to work. It is a failure,” New Jersey's Chris Christie said, according to the Associated Press.  Christie, a Republican, voiced doubts in November about the causes of climate change, but today said he believes it's real and caused at least in part by human activity.

Conservatives have been pressing governors in the Northeast to give up on the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), which requires fossil-fuel power plants in those states to buy allowrances for their emission of carbon dioxide, the leading gas blamed for warming the earth's climate.  Critics have pointed out that the caps on carbon-dioxide emissions are too loose to require any real reductions.

Maryland is one of the 10 states participating in RGGI. O'Malley, a Democrat, issued a statement saying he was disappointed by Christie's decision and disputing his claim the initiiative is ineffective.

"RGGI represents an important multi-state effort to address climate change at a time when consensus eludes Congress," O'Malley said.  The initiative has avoided carbon-dioxide emissions in Maryland equivalent to taking nearly 3,500 cars off the road, he said.

The auctions have raised $162.4 million in revenues for Maryland as well.  The funds are used to promote energy efficiency and alternative energy, but much of the money has been diverted to lower electric bills for low-income households.