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newsrel -- California issues proposed plan to achieve groundbreaking 2030 climate goals

Posted: 20 Jan 2017 09:36:50
Please consider the following news release from the California
Air Resources Board:

http://www.arb.ca.gov/newsrel/newsrelease.php?id=891

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 20, 2017

NEWS RELEASE 17-05



CONTACT:

Stanley Young
(916) 322-2990
stanley.young@arb.ca.gov 

Dave Clegern
(916) 322-2990
dave.clegern@arb.ca.gov



California issues proposed plan to achieve groundbreaking 2030
climate goals


Plan builds on existing programs, continues cap-and-trade, and
introduces approach to cut GHG emissions at refineries



SACRAMENTO — California’s groundbreaking effort to fight climate
change took another big step forward today as the California Air
Resources Board released the proposed plan to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions by 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 – the most
ambitious target in North America. The plan builds on the state’s
successful efforts to reduce emissions and outlines the most
effective ways to reach the 2030 goal, including continuing
California’s Cap-and-Trade Program.   

Achieving the 2030 target under the proposed plan will continue
to build on investments in clean energy and set the California
economy on a trajectory to achieving an 80 percent reduction in
greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. This is consistent with the
scientific consensus of the scale of emission reductions needed
to stabilize atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations at 450
parts per million carbon dioxide equivalent, and reduce the
likelihood of catastrophic climate change.  

"Climate change is impacting California now, and we need to
continue to take bold and effective action to address it head on
to protect and improve the quality of life in California,” said
CARB Chair Mary D. Nichols. “The plan will help us meet both our
climate and our clean air goals in the coming decades and provide
billions of dollars in investments to cut greenhouse gases, smog
and toxic pollution in disadvantaged communities throughout the
state. It is also designed to continue to drive creative
innovation, generating good new jobs in the growing clean
technology sector.”

For the past decade, California has been reducing emissions
through a series of actions, innovative solutions and advances in
technology. These include cleaner, more fuel-efficient cars and
zero emission vehicles, low-carbon fuels, renewable energy, waste
diversion from landfills, water conservation, improvements to
energy efficiency in homes and businesses, and a Cap-and-Trade
Program. The result is improved public health, a growing economy
with more green jobs, and better clean energy choices for
Californians.

Assembly Bill 32, signed in 2006, set California’s initial goal
to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 and
directed CARB to develop a climate change scoping plan – to be
updated every five years – detailing specific measures needed to
reach the target. Today’s proposed plan, required by the
Governor’s April 2015 Executive Order, updates the previous
scoping plan to account for the new 2030 target codified in
Senate Bill 32. 

The proposed plan continues the Cap-and-Trade Program through
2030 and includes a new approach to reduce greenhouse gases from
refineries by 20 percent. It incorporates approaches to cutting
super pollutants from the Short Lived Climate Pollutants
Strategy. And it acknowledges the need for reducing emissions in
agriculture and highlights the work underway to ensure that
California’s natural and working lands increasingly sequester
carbon. 

Achieving the 2030 goal will require contributions from all
sectors of the economy and will include enhanced focus on zero-
and near-zero emission vehicle technologies; continued investment
in renewable energy, including solar and wind; greater use of
low-carbon fuels; integrated land conservation and development
strategies; coordinated efforts to reduce emissions of
short-lived climate pollutants, which include methane, black
carbon and fluorinated gases; and an increased focus on
integrated land-use planning to support livable,
transit-connected communities.  

The proposed plan, which follows the release of a discussion
draft in December, analyzes the potential economic impacts of
different policy scenarios, including a carbon tax, and
calculates the benefit to society of taking actions to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions. The plan also includes the estimated
range of greenhouse gas, criteria pollutant and toxic pollutant
emissions reductions of each measure.

The analysis in the plan finds that Cap-and-Trade is the lowest
cost, most efficient policy approach and provides certainty that
the state will meet the 2030 goals even if other measures fall
short. The Cap-and-Trade Program funds the California Climate
Investments program, which provides funds for community, local,
regional and statewide projects aimed at reducing greenhouse gas
emissions – with at least 35 percent of proceeds invested in
disadvantaged and low-income communities.  To date, a total of
$3.4 billion in cap-and-trade funds have been appropriated for
the California Climate Investments program.  

The proposed plan was developed by CARB staff over the past 18
months working with multiple State agencies and departments. This
effort was guided by legislation and reflects input from dozens
of public workshops and community meetings, and input from CARB’s
Environmental Justice Advisory Committee and many other
stakeholders. 

The first of three public hearings on the proposed plan will be
held at the regularly scheduled Board meeting on January 27. The
California Air Resources Board is slated to hold workshops in
February and hear an update at the February 16 Board meeting. 

The Final 2017 Scoping Plan Update will be released in late March
and be considered for approval by the Board in late April. 

The full text of “The 2017 Scoping Plan Update: The Proposed Plan
for Achieving California’s 2030 Greenhouse Gas Target” is
available at:

http://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/scopingplan/scopingplan.htm

Stakeholders and the public are encouraged to submit comments by
5:00 PM PST on March 6, 2017.

https://www.arb.ca.gov/lispub/comm/bclist.php




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