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 climate change that will guide California’s policy for years. The draft plan calls for investment in new fossil fuel electricity resources, and it relies on unproven and costly carbon capture technologies that would lock in fossil fuel pollution. CARB’s draft scoping plan projects that California will use 100 million metric tons of direct air capture in 2045. We have affordable renewable energy technologies available today that not only cut carbon emissions but also tackle our state’s air pollution crisis.

Energy Climate Renewable Energy California Plan Carbon Californians Carb  neutrality  plan  states  carbon  pollution  better  energy  climate  carb  2045  fossil  california  californias  oped

History of this topic

Letters to the Editor: Regardless of Trump, the battle against climate change is picking up. Let’s keep it going
1 month ago

Letters to the Editor: Regardless of Trump, the battle against climate change is picking up. Let’s keep it going

LA Times  

Postal Service worker inspects trucks in a flooded area of New Port Richley, Fla., after Hurricane Milton on Oct. 11. Last year, the average global temperature was 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average, a tipping point for much greater damage. The renewable energy transition has also reached a tipping point; new renewables are cheaper than fossil fuels, and almost …

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 …

Southern California gets $500 million from the EPA to fight pollution
5 months ago

Southern California gets $500 million from the EPA to fight pollution

LA Times  

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded Southern California air regulators nearly $500 million in federal funding to electrify the region’s bustling goods movement, the largest grant the federal agency has ever awarded to combat air pollution. It’s going to make an extraordinary impact on decarbonizing the heavy-duty sectors.” The announcement of the historic funding followed a ceremony during which officials …

Editorial: Shame on California lawmakers for killing fossil fuel divestment bill again
6 months ago

Editorial: Shame on California lawmakers for killing fossil fuel divestment bill again

LA Times  

Youth soccer teams practice at a park in the Wilmington neighborhood of Los Angeles in the shadow of an oil refinery. In a state whose leaders speak with urgency about fighting climate change, it’s shameful and hypocritical that CalPERS and CalSTRS have billions of dollars in public employees’ retirement money invested in planet-wrecking fossil fuel companies including Exxon Mobil, Chevron …

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 …

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 …

Why is carbon capture a hot topic at the COP28 summit?
1 year ago

Why is carbon capture a hot topic at the COP28 summit?

Hindustan Times  

The future of fossil fuels is at the center of the United Nations climate summit in Dubai, where many activists, experts and nations are calling for an agreement to phase out the oil, gas and coal responsible for warming the planet. “We call that a mitigation technology, a way to stop the increased concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere,” said …

What is carbon capture and how much of a solution is it after COP28?
1 year ago

What is carbon capture and how much of a solution is it after COP28?

Associated Press  

An agreement at the United Nations-led climate conference to transition away from fossil fuels brought a measure of relief for climate activists, even as many said it doesn’t go far enough. Skeptics have said carbon capture has been oversold as a climate change solution so that the fossil fuel industry can keep burning lots of oil, coal and natural gas. …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Pipeline debate at center of California carbon capture plans
1 year, 9 months ago

Pipeline debate at center of California carbon capture plans

Associated Press  

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — In its latest ambitious roadmap to tackle climate change, California relies on capturing carbon out of the air and storing it deep underground on a scale that’s not yet been seen in the United States. Last year’s Inflation Reduction Act increases federal funding for carbon capture, boosting payouts from $50 to $85 per ton for capturing carbon …

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 …

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 …

Op-Ed: Think bigger. Switching to electric cars isn’t enough
2 years, 3 months ago

Op-Ed: Think bigger. Switching to electric cars isn’t enough

LA Times  

It might feel like the easy solution — just replace your gas-guzzling SUV with an electric SUV, and if everyone does that, eventually we’ll solve climate change. After all, car exhaust is the single biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions in California, so surely switching gas-powered cars to electric ones will make a huge dent in fighting climate change. There …

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 …

California phasing out gas vehicles in climate change fight
2 years, 3 months ago

California phasing out gas vehicles in climate change fight

Associated Press  

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California set itself on a path Thursday to end the era of gas-powered cars, with air regulators adopting the world’s most stringent rules for transitioning to zero-emission vehicles. Gavin Newsom told state regulators two years ago to adopt a ban on gas-powered cars by 2035, one piece of California’s aggressive suite of policies designed to reduce pollution …

California set to make history by banning sales of gas-powered cars
2 years, 3 months ago

California set to make history by banning sales of gas-powered cars

LA Times  

California air quality officials will vote Thursday on a rule to ban the sales of gasoline-powered cars by 2035. California air regulators are set to vote Thursday on a historic plan that would effectively require all new cars sold within the state to be zero-emission vehicles by 2035 — a ruling that would put the nation’s most populous state in …

California’s coming gas car ban: What it means
2 years, 3 months ago

California’s coming gas car ban: What it means

LA Times  

A plan to phase out sales of new gas-powered vehicles will require, among other things, vastly expanded infrastructure for charging batteries. The California Air Resources Board voted Thursday to require all new passenger cars and light trucks sold by 2035 to be what it calls zero-emission vehicles. The timeline In 2026, 35% of all new cars sold to California dealerships …

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. …

California’s Newsom wants to accelerate key climate goals
2 years, 4 months ago

California’s Newsom wants to accelerate key climate goals

Associated Press  

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. He also wants to establish a permitting policy for projects that would remove carbon dioxide from the air and put into law the state’s 2045 carbon neutrality goal as well as a ban on new oil wells within 3,200 feet of homes and schools. “The ambition of California’s climate goals must match the urgency and …

August is coming. Prepare for climate calamity
2 years, 4 months ago

August is coming. Prepare for climate calamity

LA Times  

This is the July 28, 2022, edition of Boiling Point, a weekly newsletter about climate change and the environment in California and the American West. It’s also not immune to the climate challenges confronting California and the American West as we enter August — a crucial month for water supplies, wildfires, extreme heat and possible power shortages. When I asked …

California hopes to fight global warming by pumping CO2 underground. Some call it a ruse
2 years, 4 months ago

California hopes to fight global warming by pumping CO2 underground. Some call it a ruse

LA Times  

The Phillip 66 Los Angeles refinery in Wilmington. A plan released by the California Air Resources Board recommends a majority of the state’s oil refineries install carbon capture technology to capture carbon dioxide emissions before they escape into the atmosphere. Already, regulators are considering more than a dozen CCS proposals that would store millions of tons of carbon dioxide beneath …

How California will fight Supreme Court’s limits on EPA climate enforcement
2 years, 5 months ago

How California will fight Supreme Court’s limits on EPA climate enforcement

LA Times  

Rob Bonta, right, shown speaking during a news conference in April in Playa Del Rey, described the Supreme Court’s decision Thursday to curb the EPA’s ability to fight climate change as “misguided and gravely disappointing.” Many public officials and environmental advocates in California were dismayed by Thursday’s Supreme Court decision to limit federal authority on greenhouse gases from power plants, …

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 …

California lays out plan to drastically cut fossil fuel use
2 years, 7 months ago

California lays out plan to drastically cut fossil fuel use

Associated Press  

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — New homes built in California starting in 2026 need to be powered by all-electric furnaces, stoves and other appliances if California is to meet its ambitious climate change goals over the next two decades, according to a state pollution-reduction plan released Tuesday. The roadmap by the California Air Resources Board sets the state on a path to …

Is California doing enough on climate? We asked the new CPUC chief
2 years, 9 months ago

Is California doing enough on climate? We asked the new CPUC chief

LA Times  

This is the March 17, 2022, edition of Boiling Point, a weekly newsletter about climate change and the environment in California and the American West. I know you can’t say a lot about rooftop solar incentives, since the net metering incentive program is the subject of an active commission proceeding. ME: One area where California has lagged behind other states …

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 …

Clock’s running out on climate change. California says it’s time for giant carbon vacuums
3 years, 8 months ago

Clock’s running out on climate change. California says it’s time for giant carbon vacuums

LA Times  

Solar panels, wind turbines and electric cars will go far in helping California and the Biden administration meet their aggressive climate goals — but not far enough. Even if the Texas plant meets its goals, the carbon dioxide removed by it would reflect less than 1% of the emissions California needs to pull from the atmosphere to hit its climate …

Discover Related