I am writing to encourage you to strengthen and improve
the Draft 2022 Scoping Plan Update. Scientists have increasingly
raised the alarm that this decade is our last chance to make
significant and meaningful changes in our transportation, energy,
building, and other major infrastructure to prevent an irreversible
climate catastrophe, which is why I am disappointed that the Draft
Scoping Plan fails to accelerate the targets to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions to 40% below 1990 levels by 2030 or to achieve carbon
neutrality no earlier than 2045. It is simply not good enough 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.
The California Air Resources Board must adopt a more
ambitious plan on how our state 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; 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 adopts 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.
Our politicians and, actually, a large percentage of
Americans, couldn't wrap their minds around the reality of a
rapidly changing climate in the 1980s, when it became abundantly
clear that we were heading into a truly existential climate crisis.
We have no choice other than to act RIGHT NOW if we are going to
avoid the worst of possibilities.
I have lived in California since 1946. (My father was
mustered out of the U.S. Army in Stockton, CA in 1945.) As a
result, California, for all intents and purposes, I have lived the
majority of my life in California and experienced the best of
California as a child.
I want a safe and productive life for my grandsons and
for all other children who will be faced with the increasing
challenges as climate change continues. I am hopeful that we
can achieve the necessary goals to keep from losing humans,
mammals, aquatic animals and birds to an unliveable
planet!
Thank you for your
consideration.