Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg -- both trying to burnish their environmental credentials -- on Thursday praised a Sunnyvale startup for developing fuel cell technology that can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by providing a clean source of energy.

Bloomberg, a possible future presidential candidate trying to make his mark as an environmental mayor, used his visit to Bloom Energy Corp. to announce major initiatives for his city of 8 million people with the goal of making New York environmentally sustainable.

And Schwarzenegger, who is running for re-election, reminded dozens of employees of the environmental advances in his gubernatorial agenda from his nearly three years in office.

"This is the future of California, of the nation, and of the world," Schwarzenegger said at the startup that until Wednesday, when a name change took effect, functioned like a top-secret lab known as Ion America. "It's clean energy that produces jobs, creates a clean environment. It helps our fight against global warming, and this is key here, the fight against global warming."

The company over the past four years has developed a way to convert a particular beach sand, known as zircon, into paper-thin wafers that end up on fuel cells measuring about 4 by 4 inches. When the cells are stacked they convert hydrogen into electricity. Fuel cells can generate power for homes or cars, and water is the only byproduct.

Chief Executive K.R. Sridhar expects a finished product to be publicly available within the next decade but wouldn't be more specific, partly for competitive reasons.

He said producing cleaner energy was a "moral obligation" and praised Schwarzenegger for having "bold, visionary leadership" on environmental issues.

Schwarzenegger and Bloomberg took a brief tour of the sparsely furnished startup where machines hiss and puff in assembly line-like fashion, then spoke to dozens of employees and a group of journalists.

Bloomberg also unveiled what he called an "ambitious environmental agenda." The plan includes creating an office of long-term planning and sustainability, and conducting a greenhouse gas inventory for the city.

"We need to make New York City a national leader in meeting the challenges of making our city an environmentally sustainable city," he said. Bloomberg said he chose to make the announcement in California because of the state's proactive stance on environmental public policy.

Schwarzenegger and Bloomberg, both of whom are Republican, criticized the Bush administration for failing to quickly act on the threat of global warming, but said they weren't motivated by politics in taking proenvironmental positions.

California and New York are among 12 states that have sued the federal government charging it has failed to adequately regulate vehicle exhaust, one of the main causes of global warming.

"We can't sit around and wait for Washington to do something," Bloomberg said. "We can lobby them, and both of us do; we can pressure them, both of us do; but we both have to day in and day out serve the voters that have picked us to lead them."

Schwarzenegger said he would sign, next week, landmark legislation, AB32, which would reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the state to 1990 levels by 2020.

Sridhar, the chief executive, later described his workers as "your quintessential startup employees who are sacrificing a lot on their personal lives, because for them it's not just a job, it's a mission, this is how big companies, great companies are built."

He added: "And for them to have leaders of significance come in here and appreciate what they're doing and tell them this is what the country needs, this is what the world needs, that's a big deal."