California passed a very bold plan to reduce global warming pollution

It’s been a great week on the weather front. On the same day state utility regulators reduce rooftop solar incentivesstate air regulators approved a very ambitious road map to reduce emissions that warm the planet. Overarching goals include slashing greenhouse gas emissions by the middle of this decade and reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2045.

Climate justice policy advocate Kyle Heiskala of the nonprofit Environmental Health Coalition said the plan approved Thursday includes some big grassroots victories, such as goals to slash car travel and urge a increased investment in the public transport on which many people with lower incomes depend.

“What we’ve seen with this updated scoping plan is, really for the first time, some significant shifts towards the center of environmental justice,” Heiskala said. “The challenge ahead is to create that interagency collaboration that leverages the lived experience of community members who use public transportation every day.”

Pollution emitted by cars and trucks represents more than 40% of the state’s total emissions, so it’s necessary to not only get more people to use electric vehicles, but also to get us to drive a lot less. The plan projects that Californians will drive 25% fewer miles by 2030, but that’s a big “if.”

LA only has one history of leaving public transport promises unfulfilled forks far behind its own mobility planwhile LA Metro has plans to expand freeways once again and deny any emission reductions from improved public transport.

The California Air Resources Board projects that unprecedented growth and development of renewable energy sources will be necessary to meet the demands of the future.

(California Air Resources Board

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LAist)

The implementation of the plan in its entirety will be a great challenge. Heiskala said that while members of the environmental justice community and advocates were much more involved in the development of the plan, the goals are still quite broad and have some major assumptions, with few details on how to actually achieve them.

“While there was that shift in working more closely with environmental justice,” he said, “there is still the possibility of continuing the legacy of environmental racism and harm to frontline communities living in the most polluted areas of California. ”.

That’s partly because the plan relies heavily on controversial technologies like hydrogen, biogas, and engineered carbon capture, which essentially captures carbon from power plant smokestacks before it reaches the atmosphere to further warm the planet. Opponents fear it just another way to extend the life of the fossil fuel industry.

Carbon capture also doesn’t remove dangerous air pollutants like benzene, said Olivia Seideman, climate policy coordinator at the nonprofit Leadership Council for Justice and Accountability in Fresno. exist plans to store much of the carbon captured at power plants in the Los Angeles area underground in the Central Valley.

“We are seeing a huge overreliance on these technologies,” Seideman said. “That is a huge concern for California communities that are experiencing a disproportionate burden of air pollution. We really should prioritize direct emission reductions and natural carbon sequestration where possible.”

The plan also incorporates how changing agriculture and conserving land are critical to sequestering carbon and reducing emissions.

Projected increases in electricity demand by sector from the California Air Resources Board.

(California Air Resources Board

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LAist)

In the plan, the state estimates it will need to at least double the amount of electricity it generates to support more electric vehicles, home appliances and other efforts to move away from fossil fuels. To do that, the state will need to quadruple its solar and wind power, which means that, in just the next 13 years, efforts to build large-scale solar and battery storage will need to accelerate by 700%.