Opinion: California’s greenhouse gas emissions are rising — and we’re not even counting them all
1 year, 1 month ago

Opinion: California’s greenhouse gas emissions are rising — and we’re not even counting them all

LA Times  

California has committed to substantially reducing its greenhouse gas emissions, aiming for carbon neutrality by 2045. But the California Air Resources Board recently released a preliminary greenhouse gas inventory suggesting the state’s emissions increased slightly last year compared with the previous year. California’s greenhouse gas inventory is likewise not just going in the wrong direction but also ignoring a lot of harmful sources of emissions. Many of the industries whose greenhouse gas emissions are excluded from the official inventory — including shipping, aviation, refineries and biofuels — produce additional pollutants that affect nearby communities. Senate Bill 253, which Newsom recently signed into law, requires large corporations operating in California to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and include emissions throughout their supply chains.

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History of this topic

California just set rules that trade short-term climate gain for long-term health and safety
1 month ago

California just set rules that trade short-term climate gain for long-term health and safety

LA Times  

Holstein cows at a dairy in Pixley, Calif. As long-serving members of the California Air Resources Board, we have prioritized environmental justice and community health, championing efforts to combat climate change. California’s dairy industry has historically focused on milk production, but today, many dairies are producing renewable natural gas by capturing methane from manure. While we successfully pushed for regulations …

California regulators are pressed to come clean on gasoline prices
1 month, 2 weeks ago

California regulators are pressed to come clean on gasoline prices

LA Times  

California regulators are poised to vote Friday on a measure intended to accelerate the state’s transition away from fossil fuels by imposing tougher carbon-reduction requirements for gasoline and diesel. She wants “an independent review to ensure transparency and accountability in the regulatory process.” On Friday, the air board will vote on tighter carbon-reduction rules that, according to the board’s own …

Kern County Approves Carbon Capture Project, a Major Step Towards California's First Climate Solution
2 months ago

Kern County Approves Carbon Capture Project, a Major Step Towards California's First Climate Solution

Associated Press  

Kern County, California, has approved a major step toward its first effort to bury climate-warming gases underground. The project, called Carbon Terra Vault, will capture millions of tons of carbon dioxide from a sprawling oil and gas field and inject it into the ground. This is part of a broader effort by the oil and gas industry to remain viable …

California emissions drop 2.4% due to electric vehicles and cleaner fuels, officials say
3 months ago

California emissions drop 2.4% due to electric vehicles and cleaner fuels, officials say

LA Times  

California greenhouse gas emissions dropped about 2.4% in 2022 — an encouraging sign that the state’s carbon footprint is decreasing once again, even as the economy rebounds from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to state officials. The California Air Resources Board announced Friday that emissions of planet-warming carbon dioxide shrank by about 9.3 million metric tons in 2022 compared with 2021 …

Editorial: California can make climate polluters pay for the mess they have made of Earth
7 months ago

Editorial: California can make climate polluters pay for the mess they have made of Earth

LA Times  

As climate change exacts a mounting toll on California, who should pay for the damage from rising sea levels and increasingly ferocious wildfires, floods and heat waves? That’s the concept behind the Polluters Pay Climate Cost Recovery Act, a bill in the California Legislature that would create a Superfund-style program to collect money from major fossil fuel companies such as …

California wants to harness more than half its land to combat climate change by 2045. Here’s how
8 months ago

California wants to harness more than half its land to combat climate change by 2045. Here’s how

LA Times  

California has unveiled an ambitious plan to help combat the worsening climate crisis with one of its invaluable assets: its land. Gavin Newsom’s California Climate Commitment geared toward helping the state reach carbon neutrality by 2045 — includes 81 targets that will help harness the power of millions of acres across the Golden State. “We’ve had a really strong environmental …

Berkeley halts landmark natural gas ban after legal fight
8 months, 3 weeks ago

Berkeley halts landmark natural gas ban after legal fight

LA Times  

The city of Berkeley has agreed to halt enforcement of a ban on natural gas piping in new homes and buildings that was successfully opposed in court by the California Restaurant Assn. As part of an agreement last week to settle a lawsuit from the California Restaurant Assn., Berkeley agreed to immediately halt enforcement of its first-in-the-nation ban on installing …

California unlikely to meet landmark goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions
9 months, 1 week ago

California unlikely to meet landmark goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions

LA Times  

Wind turbines rise above an array of solar panels at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s Tree Wind Farm and Solar Power Plant in Kern County’s Tehachapi Mountains. California has long been a leader in emissions control, and the new report has faced pushback from state officials who say they are much further along in hitting the goals …

From decarbonization to electric cars, California hopes to showcase climate leadership at COP28
1 year ago

From decarbonization to electric cars, California hopes to showcase climate leadership at COP28

LA Times  

World leaders are gearing up for COP28, an annual U.N. climate conference that will begin this week in Dubai, and California is expected to play a sizable role in the proceedings. “Part of our presence in California is really to make the case that subnational governments — that is, states, provinces, cities — need to have a central role in …

California lawmakers approve the nation’s most sweeping emissions disclosure rules for big business
1 year, 3 months ago

California lawmakers approve the nation’s most sweeping emissions disclosure rules for big business

Associated Press  

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Major corporations from oil and gas companies to retail giants would have to disclose their direct greenhouse gas emissions as well as those that come from activities like employee business travel under legislation passed Monday by California lawmakers, the most sweeping mandate of its kind in the nation. State Sen. Scott Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat who …

California lawmakers pass groundbreaking greenhouse gas emissions disclosure bill
1 year, 3 months ago

California lawmakers pass groundbreaking greenhouse gas emissions disclosure bill

LA Times  

California lawmakers passed a bill that would require large companies that do business in the state to report their greenhouse gas emissions. California lawmakers have passed a bill that would require large U.S.-based companies doing business in the Golden State to publicly disclose their annual greenhouse gas emissions — the first such requirement in the nation. The bill would require …

California Gets Ahead of SEC in Forcing Firms’ Carbon Disclosure
1 year, 3 months ago

California Gets Ahead of SEC in Forcing Firms’ Carbon Disclosure

Bloomberg  

California state legislators passed a bill Tuesday that would leapfrog the US Securities and Exchange Commission ’s efforts to require companies to disclose their greenhouse gases and climate-related financial risks. As the world’s fifth-largest economy, California’s environmental rules are quickly followed by other states, even when they exceed federal requirements. The Golden State’s proposal, known as the Climate Corporate Data …

Editorial: The climate crisis didn’t take a year off. California lawmakers shouldn’t either
1 year, 3 months ago

Editorial: The climate crisis didn’t take a year off. California lawmakers shouldn’t either

LA Times  

After years of stagnation, last year California legislators made progress in fighting climate change, passing most of Gov. The bill is up against an intense lobbying push from powerful business interests opposed to it, including the California Chamber of Commerce, which called it an “onerous emissions tracking and paperwork requirement that will increase costs on California businesses.” It’s obvious why …

California is working on solutions to worsening climate change. Will they be enough?
1 year, 4 months ago

California is working on solutions to worsening climate change. Will they be enough?

LA Times  

In the opening chapter of “The Ministry for the Future,” science-fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson details a calamitous heat wave that kills almost all the residents of a small town. “The simple equation is climate change, warmer atmosphere, more intense rain, more pollution, more problems but also major catastrophic infrastructure damage,” said Stefanie Sekich, senior manager of Surfrider Foundation’s coast …

California has new weapons to battle summer blackouts: Battery storage, power from record rain
1 year, 4 months ago

California has new weapons to battle summer blackouts: Battery storage, power from record rain

LA Times  

An aircraft takes off from Los Angeles International Airport behind electric power lines at sunset It’s a summertime sequence that’s become all too familiar in California: Extreme heat forces air conditioners into overdrive, which pushes the state’s power grid to the brink. “In general, we’re doing better this summer because we have better hydro, we have more batteries.” Since last …

Editorial: Don’t stop composting. California can’t afford to abandon its methane-busting law now
1 year, 6 months ago

Editorial: Don’t stop composting. California can’t afford to abandon its methane-busting law now

LA Times  

This year, Angelenos were invited to start discarding potato peels, chicken bones and other food scraps in the green yard waste curbside bin rather than the trash can. A state law passed in 2016 requires every city and community in California to divert 75% of organic waste from landfills and to recover and redistribute 20% of edible food before it …

Can California put an end to corporate greenwashing?
1 year, 8 months ago

Can California put an end to corporate greenwashing?

LA Times  

A proposed California bill would require large companies that do business in the state to report their greenhouse gas emissions. The Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor found American Airlines’ strategies to be of “very low integrity,” saying the airline’s net-zero promise lacks a commitment to reduce its own emissions, and that its offsetting program “has the potential to mislead customers.” The …

California approves roadmap for carbon neutrality by 2045
2 years ago

California approves roadmap for carbon neutrality by 2045

The Hindu  

California air regulators voted unanimously on Thursday to approve an ambitious plan to drastically cut reliance on fossil fuels by changing practices in the energy, transportation and agriculture sectors, but critics say it doesn’t go far enough to combat climate change. The plan sets out to achieve so-called carbon neutrality by 2045, meaning the state will remove as many carbon …

California approves roadmap for carbon neutrality by 2045
2 years ago

California approves roadmap for carbon neutrality by 2045

Associated Press  

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California air regulators voted unanimously Thursday to approve an ambitious plan to drastically cut reliance on fossil fuels by changing practices in the energy, transportation and agriculture sectors, but critics say it doesn’t go far enough to combat climate change. CARBON CAPTURE The plan refers to carbon capture as a “necessary tool” to implement in the state …

California unveils plan to reach carbon neutrality by 2045
2 years, 1 month ago

California unveils plan to reach carbon neutrality by 2045

LA Times  

Wind turbines in the Tehachapi Mountains. The California Air Resources Board has released a plan to reach carbon neutrality by 2045. California air quality officials released a bold climate plan Wednesday that outlines in broad strokes how the state intends to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the end of the decade and eventually eliminate its carbon footprint. “California is …

California set a record for greenhouse gas reductions in 2020, but it means nothing
2 years, 1 month ago

California set a record for greenhouse gas reductions in 2020, but it means nothing

LA Times  

Traffic is light as rush hour looms where the 110 and 105 freeways meet in this 2020 photo. They also come as a U.N. report finds that global greenhouse gas reduction efforts are “highly inadequate.” Word that Californians had effectively reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 35 million metric tons in 2020 — the equivalent of 94 coal plants operating for …

California carbon emissions fell 9% in pandemic’s 1st year
2 years, 1 month ago

California carbon emissions fell 9% in pandemic’s 1st year

Associated Press  

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California’s planet-warming emissions dropped nearly 9% in 2020 compared to the year before as pandemic restrictions kept people at home, out of their cars and away from the workplace for much of the year. The data released Wednesday marks California’s largest single-year emissions drop and tracks with a similar reduction nationwide. “This year will be looked at …

A single, devastating California fire season wiped out years of efforts to cut emissions
2 years, 2 months ago

A single, devastating California fire season wiped out years of efforts to cut emissions

LA Times  

A nearly two-decade effort by Californians to cut their emissions of planet-warming carbon dioxide may have been erased by a single, devastating year of wildfires, according to UCLA and University of Chicago researchers. He said that’s the essence of the study’s title, “Up In Smoke,” because “a lot of the hard-earned gains to fight climate change could be wiped out …

California vows to ban gas-fueled cars. But its record on big climate promises is mixed
2 years, 3 months ago

California vows to ban gas-fueled cars. But its record on big climate promises is mixed

LA Times  

It was the sort of bold, climate-focused initiative that California has developed a reputation for — an effective ban on the sale of new gasoline-powered cars by 2035. “The Air Resources Board’s greatest claim to fame before the climate era was its role in creating and enforcing the adoption of catalytic converters and other technologies to reduce the emissions of …

Editorial: California should go bolder on climate, even if it’s an 11th-hour push
2 years, 4 months ago

Editorial: California should go bolder on climate, even if it’s an 11th-hour push

LA Times  

California may be known as a climate leader, but when it comes to legislation to cut pollution and phase out fossil fuels, state lawmakers are largely resting on their laurels. Gavin Newsom has worked with legislators to set aside tens of billions of dollars of the state’s massive budget surplus and has taken administrative steps to support climate change goals. …

Not enough or too far? California climate plan pleases few
2 years, 6 months ago

Not enough or too far? California climate plan pleases few

Associated Press  

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — 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 during discussions of a new plan for the state to reach its climate goals. “How we achieve our climate goals matters as much as when we achieve them, and we …

Editorial: California needs to slash carbon pollution. Its pie-in-the-sky plan falls short
2 years, 6 months ago

Editorial: California needs to slash carbon pollution. Its pie-in-the-sky plan falls short

LA Times  

California is increasingly suffering the effects of a spiraling climate crisis, from record-breaking and destructive wildfires and unhealthy, smoke-choked air to deadly heat waves and power outages. As record-breaking fires raged across the state in 2020, he said that it’s a “climate damn emergency” and that California needs to move faster to slash planet-warming pollution across the board. After more …

Op-Ed: California can do better than carbon neutrality by 2045
2 years, 7 months ago

Op-Ed: California can do better than carbon neutrality by 2045

LA Times  

Ten years ago, many Californians could not have imagined the climate nightmare we are living today — dark orange skies during wildfire season, heat waves in the dead of winter, mandatory water restrictions amid crippling drought. It’s against this backdrop that the California Air Resources Board last week released a draft of our state’s scoping plan, a blueprint for combating …

California companies’ pollution credits risk climate aims
2 years, 10 months ago

California companies’ pollution credits risk climate aims

Associated Press  

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Oil refineries, utilities and other companies that must pay to emit greenhouse gases in California have saved up so many credits allowing them to pollute that it may jeopardize the state’s ability to reach its ambitious climate goals, according to a report by a panel that advises state officials. California runs one of the world’s largest carbon …

Editorial: California isn’t on pace to meet its climate targets. Here are 3 ways to cut pollution faster
3 years ago

Editorial: California isn’t on pace to meet its climate targets. Here are 3 ways to cut pollution faster

LA Times  

Solar panels seen at California at Buchanan High School in Clovis. Strengthen zero-emission vehicle rules and incentives Transportation remains California’s largest source of planet-warming pollution, but the switch to zero-emission vehicles isn’t happening fast enough to meet the state’s goals to reduce emissions and end sales of gas-powered models by 2035. Get more renewable electricity online, fast The power sector …

As fires burns, California moves faster on climate — maybe
3 years, 5 months ago

As fires burns, California moves faster on climate — maybe

LA Times  

This is the July 22, 2021, edition of Boiling Point, a weekly newsletter about climate change and the environment in California and the American West. For the Air Resources Board, that will mean using next year’s edition of its twice-a-decade climate “scoping plan” to work through the feasibility of carbon neutrality by 2035. Meanwhile, KPCC’s Sharon McNary explains how Acton, …

California’s next climate challenge: Replacing its last nuclear power plant
3 years, 7 months ago

California’s next climate challenge: Replacing its last nuclear power plant

LA Times  

The twin reactors along California’s Central Coast were nearing completion, and tens of thousands of people had gathered to protest. It was 1979, just months after a partial nuclear meltdown at Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island, and a young Jerry Brown — serving his first stint as California governor — earned a standing ovation when he declared, “No on Diablo Canyon.” …

How Biden’s new U.S. climate target compares with those of California and world
3 years, 8 months ago

How Biden’s new U.S. climate target compares with those of California and world

LA Times  

California has looked to renewable energy, including from wind farms such as this one in the Tehachapi Mountains, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In comparison, “California’s target of 40% below 1990 levels translates into about 47% below 2005 levels by 2030,” said Kate Larsen, who authored the Rhodium Group analysis. He said Biden’s proposed nationwide target “is somewhat more ambitious …

California enlists surveillance satellites to sniff out greenhouse gas ‘super-emitters’
3 years, 8 months ago

California enlists surveillance satellites to sniff out greenhouse gas ‘super-emitters’

LA Times  

Years after former Gov. Jerry Brown pledged California would launch its “own damn satellite” to track planet-warming pollutants, the state plans to put not one, but two satellites in orbit to help it hunt for hard-to-find “super-emitters” of methane and carbon dioxide. “No one can see them or smell them, and yet they’re incredibly damaging, not just to the local …

California sued over climate change policy — by the nation’s biggest gas utility
4 years, 4 months ago

California sued over climate change policy — by the nation’s biggest gas utility

LA Times  

Southern California Gas Co. is taking its battle with state officials over climate change policy to court, arguing in a new lawsuit that the California Energy Commission has failed to promote natural gas as required by state law. A separate lawsuit was filed last week against the state’s Air Resources Board by the California Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition, whose two …

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