Emissions, carbon neutrality plan draws some criticism
SACRAMENTO >> Heat waves and drought gripping California highlight the urgency to slash fossil fuel use and remove planet-warming emissions from the air, a top state official said Thursday as discussions began on a new proposal for how the state will meet its ambitious climate goals.
“I think every single Californian today knows that we're living through a climate emergency,” said Jared Blumenfeld, secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency. “And so what we're doing today takes on additional importance and urgency.”
He spoke as the California Air Resources Board opened a hearing on a plan updated twice each decade that sets a climate change roadmap for the state. This year's plan focuses on achieving carbon neutrality by 2045, which means the state would remove as much carbon from the air as it emits.
The timeline is among the most ambitious in the nation and in the world, but the proposal has many critics. A wide range of environmental advocates say the plan does far too little to quickly lower planetwarming emissions. Business and fossil fuel groups, meanwhile, say it would raise prices and make California less affordable.
“How we achieve our climate goals matters as much as when we achieve them, and we need a plan for real zero, not net zero,” said Catherine Garoupa White, a member of the plan's Environmental Justice Advisory Committee and executive director of the Central Valley Air Quality Coalition.
California is often touted as a leader on U.S. climate policy and it has set some of the most aggressive rules for regulating vehicle emissions. The size of the California's economy — it's bigger than those of most nations — means the state's climate policies can often drive major business changes. It's 2045 carbon neutrality goal is matched only by Hawaii among states, and tracks with goals set by other major economies like Germany.
The state would reach its goal through combination of lowering fossil fuel use and using technology to remove any remaining emissions from the air. Board staff estimates it would reduce petroleum demand across the economy and the use of fossil natural gas in buildings by 91% by 2045.
Doing so would require 30 times as many electric vehicles on the road compared to today, six times more electric appliances in homes, four times more wind and solar generation and 60 times more hydrogen.
Such a sweeping transition would lower the state's emissions about 78% come 2045. Some observers note that Washington and New York, both Democratic-led states, have more ambitious targets for direct emissions reductions, 95% and 85% respectively.
Though the timelines don't offer perfect comparisons, the two states are “pushing harder and farther,” said Danny Cullenward, a lawyer and climate economist who serves on an oversight board for California's carbon pricing program.
Critics from environmental groups say California's plan doesn't call for deep enough emissions cuts and relies too heavily on unproven and energy intensive carbon capture and removal. The concerns about such technology track with global concerns about the best way to tackle emissions goals.