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newsrel -- California’s plan to fight climate change will also help grow economy

Posted: 15 Oct 2008 13:13:23
Proposed Scoping Plan sets California on course for a
clean-energy future. Release 08-92
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 15, 2008
	  	  	

Stanley Young
(916)322-2990
(916)956-9409 - mobile
www.arb.ca.gov

 

California’s plan to fight climate change will also help grow
economy

Proposed Scoping Plan sets California on course for a
clean-energy future

SACRAMENTO: The California Air Resources Board today released
its proposed plan to reduce California's greenhouse gas
emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. The plan is slated to go
before the Board for approval at its December meeting.

“Today marks another step forward in California’s fight against
global warming. This plan is good for the environment and public
health, and it sets California on a course toward a more secure
and sustainable economy,” said Mary Nichols, Chairman of ARB.
“Our comprehensive approach steers California away from its
dependence on fossil fuels and accelerates the state’s necessary
transition toward a clean-energy future.”

The plan constitutes the cornerstone of a concerted effort by
the Schwarzenegger administration to address climate change.
This includes SB 375 (Steinberg), a bill that promotes smart
growth and provides incentives for creating attractive, walkable
and sustainable communities and revitalizing existing
communities. Another climate change initiative is AB 3018
(Nunez), a bill that establishes the Green Collar Jobs Council
to develop a comprehensive array of programs, strategies and
resources to address the workforce needs that will accompany
California’s growing green economy. Governor Schwarzenegger
signed both bills last week.

Nichols added that the state’s coordinated approach “serves as
an example for the nation in forward thinking about our economic
future. California’s plan will drive innovation, create thousands
of new jobs, and provide a wealth of opportunities for California
to export technology and help fight global warming around the
world.”

Development of the Scoping Plan is a central requirement of AB
32, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Nuñez, Pavley),
that calls on California to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions
to 1990 levels by 2020. Governor Schwarzenegger signed the bill
into law in September 2006.

In June, the Air Resources Board released its Draft Scoping
Plan. The proposed plan released today reflects additional
analysis, and public input that ARB has received over the past
several months. The plan is built on the principle that a
balanced mix of strategies is the best way to cut emissions and
grow the economy in a clean and sustainable direction.

An important component of the plan is a cap-and-trade program
covering 85 percent of the state's emissions. This program will
be developed in conjunction with the Western Climate Initiative
which recently released its own proposed design structure,
encompassing seven states and four Canadian provinces that have
committed to cap their emissions and create a regional carbon
market.

Additional key recommendations of the plan include strategies to
enhance and expand California’s proven cost-saving energy
efficiency programs; implementation of California’s clean cars
standards; increases in the amount of clean and renewable energy
used to power the state; and, implementation of a low carbon fuel
standard that will make the fuels used in California cleaner.

The plan proposes full deployment of the California Solar
Initiative, high-speed rail, water-related energy efficiency
measures, and a range of regulations to reduce emissions from
trucks and from ships docked in California ports. There are also
measures designed to safely reduce or recover a range of very
potent greenhouse gases — refrigerants and other industrial
gases — that contribute to global warming at a level many times
greater per ton emitted than carbon dioxide.

Other measures include a ‘margin of safety’ — a new feature that
provides additional reductions to account for measures in
uncapped sectors that do not, or may not, achieve the estimated
emission reductions in this plan.

The plan also includes an emphasis on efforts to enable small
business to participate in the benefits of the plan and expanded
discussions on public health, green buildings, offsets, the Zero
Emissions Vehicle program and international initiatives.

The plan recommends targeted fees to fund the state's long-term
commitment to AB 32 administration.

Following approval of the plan by the Board in December, the ARB
will begin developing detailed strategies to implement all of the
recommended measures.

The Proposed Scoping Plan and all appendices can be viewed at:
www.arb.ca.gov

The Air Resources Board is a department of the California
Environmental Protection Agency. ARB's mission is to promote and
protect public health, welfare, and ecological resources through
effective reduction of air pollutants while recognizing and
considering effects on the economy. The ARB oversees all air
pollution control efforts in California to attain and maintain
health based air quality standards.

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