I am writing to urge you to strengthen and
improve the Draft 2022 Scoping Plan Update, which is way too weak
as currently written. Drastic action, not timid steps, is
needed. In fact, this draft is so timid, it doesn't even
SOUND like it was written by Californians. California is in
most ways on the leading edge of addressing transportation, energy,
building and other major infrastructure changes to prevent
irreversible climate catastrophe, which is one reason why this 2022
Draft Scoping Plan Update reads as though it has been hijacked by
Big Business. I am really disappointed that the Draft Scoping
Plan fails to accelerate the targets to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions to 40% below 1990 levels by 2030 and fails to achieve
carbon neutrality before 2045. It is simply not good enough as
currently written to meet the urgency of the climate crisis and the
desperate need for bold actions. CARB must achieve a more ambitious
Scoping Plan that leads to an accelerated pathway to carbon
neutrality so that the state’s 40 million residents and
future generations of Californians can live in and thrive in a
cleaner and healthier environment, not to mention stop having to
live in fear of year-round wildfires, that we now know are an
indirect result of the climate crisis.
I strongly urge the California Air
Resources Board to adopt a more ambitious plan on how California
will combat the most catastrophic impacts of climate change in the
crucial years ahead. To accomplish this, CARB must improve the
Draft Scoping Plan by accelerating a phase-out of oil and gas
extraction and oil refining; not making any more investment in
fossil fuel infrastructure (and that includes stopping the
construction of NEW gas stations); eliminating or significantly reducing our
reliance on unproven and costly technologies to prolong polluting
fuel sources; pursuing more robust transportation sector targets;
and decarbonizing buildings. The escalating climate crisis demands
that CARB adopt a more ambitious Scoping Plan, one with the vision
and conviction to provide the solutions that are needed to overcome
the crisis that we face. Thank you for your
consideration.
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