California Uses New Emissions Reductions to Pressure Other States
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Gov. Jerry Brown’s executive order aims to inspire state leaders to take more decisive action on climate change.
Sending a message to other state governments, California Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday set a greenhouse gas reduction target of 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 via executive order.
Unrivaled by any North American government, the carbon emissions benchmark comes less than a month after Brown ordered water use reductions and puts the state on even footing with the European Union before the United Nations Climate Change Conference to be held in Paris starting Nov. 30.
California reached an emissions reduction agreement with the states of Oregon, Washington and the Canadian province of British Columbia, as well as separate agreements with Mexico, China, Japan, Israel and Peru that are intended to increase the odds of establishing standards at the U.N. conference.
“With this order, California sets a very high bar for itself and other states and nations, but it’s one that must be reached—for this generation and generations to come,” Brown said in his announcement.
Brown’s target improves on then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 2006 goal of 1990 emission levels by 2020, which the state is on pace to meet or exceed.
The state’s end game is to reduce emissions 80 percent under 1990 levels by 2050—the generally agreed upon U.S. mark needed to keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius and major climate disruptions at bay.
California’s move drew praise from other state and local leaders for its potential to create hundreds of thousands of advanced energy jobs. Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg called it “bold” and “necessary,” according to the governor’s announcement.
“Governor Brown’s ground-breaking commitment not only shows that solving the climate problem goes hand-in-hand with economic growth and technology leadership, but points the way toward a climate solution for other states and the world,” Princeton University geosciences professor Michael Oppenheimer said in a statement.
The executive order also mandates climate change impacts be factored into the state’s five-year infrastructure plan, climate adaptation strategy and agency planning and investment.
U.S. energy-related carbon dioxide emissions increased during the last two years, according to a recent U.S. Energy Information Administration study.
California has the eighth-most greenhouse gas emissions of any state, according to data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency—a list that leads with Texas and ends with New Hampshire.
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