California hit its climate goal early — but its biggest source of pollution keeps rising
6 years, 8 months ago

California hit its climate goal early — but its biggest source of pollution keeps rising

LA Times  

California hit its target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions below 1990 levels four years early, a milestone regulators and environmentalists are cheering as more proof that you can cut pollution while growing the economy. Further complicating matters is a Trump administration plan to weaken fuel economy standards and revoke California’s power to set its own, stricter rules — a move that could cause vehicle emissions to rise even more. “We’ve seen a substantial increase in solar and wind power, particularly rooftop solar installations,” says Dave Edwards, chief of the Air Resources Board’s greenhouse gas and toxics emissions inventory branch. “We think that we’re on the right trajectory right now toward 2030.” For now, California’s reductions in greenhouse gas emissions remain modest, and are broadly consistent with a nationwide decrease in recent years.

Economy Climate Electricity Pollution Trump Gas Power Natural Gas Greenhouse Gas Emissions Emissions Goal Source Greenhouse 1990 Levels California Hit  early  power  rising  source  keeps  goal  emissions  california  hit  pollution  electricity  gas  climate  greenhouse  californias  economy  transportation  biggest

History of this topic

Column: Time for California to get serious about cheaper, cleaner energy
1 month ago

Column: Time for California to get serious about cheaper, cleaner energy

LA Times  

The sun rises on Jan. 21 above homes that burned in the Eaton fire in Altadena. Customers of the state’s big investor-owned utilities — Pacific Gas & Electric, San Diego Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison — saw rates rise between 48% and 67%, the analyst’s office said. Those claims are contested by solar installers and environmental activists, who …

Letters to the Editor: Hey, California bashers, the numbers don’t lie: We’re doing OK here
1 month, 3 weeks ago

Letters to the Editor: Hey, California bashers, the numbers don’t lie: We’re doing OK here

LA Times  

The American, California, POW-MIA and LGBTQ+ Pride flags fly near the state Capitol in Sacramento in 2019. To the editor: Since you are intent on giving people in red states a platform to bash Los Angeles and California, I trust you will give voice to the “other side” as well. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, …

What do recent Supreme Court actions mean for California auto emission standards?
3 months, 1 week ago

What do recent Supreme Court actions mean for California auto emission standards?

LA Times  

Environmental advocates are cautiously optimistic after the Supreme Court left California’s nation-leading auto emissions standards in place — at least for the moment. “The Supreme Court was right to turn away this radical request by Republican-led states to upend decades of law letting California cut pollution and clean our air,” said Daniel Villaseñor, a spokesperson for Gov. “California’s authority was …

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

California emissions drop 2.4% due to electric vehicles and cleaner fuels, officials say
6 months, 1 week 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 …

California hits milestones toward 100% clean energy — but has a long way to go
7 months, 1 week ago

California hits milestones toward 100% clean energy — but has a long way to go

Associated Press  

California has given America a glimpse at what running one of the world’s largest economies on renewable energy might look like. That progress is largely due to the substantial public and private investments in renewable energy — particularly batteries storing solar power to use when the sun isn’t shining, according to energy experts. “Not only is our grid more reliable …

Editorial: Californians don’t have to accept skyrocketing electric bills. Here’s how to fight back
9 months, 4 weeks ago

Editorial: Californians don’t have to accept skyrocketing electric bills. Here’s how to fight back

LA Times  

Fast-rising electric rates have the potential to be the Achilles’ heel of California’s climate goals. Much of the recent debate over electric rates has focused on the California Public Utilities Commission’s May 9 decision to shift the way electricity bills are charged to customers served by investor-owned utilities. Lawmakers must address rising costs next to protect cash-strapped Californians and prevent …

Opinion: Why would California rob from clean transportation to fund highway expansions?
10 months ago

Opinion: Why would California rob from clean transportation to fund highway expansions?

LA Times  

California has ambitious climate goals : By 2045, the state wants to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 85%, drop gas consumption 94% and cut air pollution 71%. Why would we cut from the state’s most climate-friendly transportation program and spend that money on highway projects that will make climate change and traffic congestion worse? Despite this, according to a recent …

California wants to harness more than half its land to combat climate change by 2045. Here’s how
11 months, 1 week 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 …

Sensor network shows EVs are reducing CO2 emissions in the Bay Area. Is it enough?
11 months, 3 weeks ago

Sensor network shows EVs are reducing CO2 emissions in the Bay Area. Is it enough?

LA Times  

A network of air monitors installed in Northern California has provided scientists with some of the first measurable evidence quantifying how much electric vehicles are shrinking the carbon footprint of a large urban area. Explore the section Between 2018 and 2022, the region’s carbon emissions fell by 1.8% each year, which the Berkeley researchers concluded was almost exclusively owed to …

California unlikely to meet landmark goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions
1 year 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 …

Column: Hate the storm? Then start getting serious about climate change
1 year, 1 month ago

Column: Hate the storm? Then start getting serious about climate change

LA Times  

You know how oil and gas pollution is supposed to bring not only hotter heat waves, drier droughts and bigger wildfires, but also more intense storms? As The Times’ Grace Toohey wrote last week, scientists have found that because of rising temperatures, a catastrophic storm “is more likely to happen and to be more intense, with a 2% chance of …

From decarbonization to electric cars, California hopes to showcase climate leadership at COP28
1 year, 4 months 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, 4 months 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 …

A third of Californian voters and most Republicans say the state is moving too fast on green energy - new rules pushing motorists to spend $60,000 on EVs will hasten exodus to Texas and Arizona: resea
1 year, 4 months ago

A third of Californian voters and most Republicans say the state is moving too fast on green energy - new rules pushing motorists to spend $60,000 on EVs will hasten exodus to Texas and Arizona: resea

Daily Mail  

Millions of Californians say their state is switching to renewable energy sources too quickly, and experts say that its strict and costly new rules on electric cars will price more people out of the Golden State. Meanwhile, Stanford University experts warn that looming new rules requiring Californians to spend tens of thousands of extra dollars on costly electric vehicles will …

Opinion: What California Gov. Gavin Newsom could learn from China’s response to climate change
1 year, 5 months ago

Opinion: What California Gov. Gavin Newsom could learn from China’s response to climate change

LA Times  

Gavin Newsom put an international spotlight on California’s climate policies in his speech at the United Nations last month. California has long led by example on environmental matters, and the world’s leading polluters, including China, have looked to the Golden State for ideas on reducing air pollution and increasing clean energy production. California’s climate ambitions will be met only by …

Editorial: California’s transportation spending doesn’t match its climate promises
1 year, 5 months ago

Editorial: California’s transportation spending doesn’t match its climate promises

LA Times  

Rush-hour traffic at the intersection of the 110 and 101 freeways in Los Angeles on June 15, 2021. Opinion Editorial: California’s lawsuit against Big Oil could help end decades of climate lies California’s climate lawsuit against big oil companies isn’t only notable for its pursuit of industry accountability for the damage being caused by fossil fuels. Of the state’s primary …

Editorial: The climate crisis didn’t take a year off. California lawmakers shouldn’t either
1 year, 6 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, 7 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 is falling short of its food composting goals. Is a crackdown coming?
1 year, 7 months ago

California is falling short of its food composting goals. Is a crackdown coming?

LA Times  

If tamping down Earth-warming greenhouse gases were as simple as separating coffee grounds, egg shells, leftover lasagna and other kitchen scraps from other waste, Californians certainly would be up to the task. Projecting that California would fall well short of its goal of removing 75% of green waste from landfills by 2025, the state’s Little Hoover Commission in June recommended …

The US’s ambitious plan to cut auto emissions to slow climate change runs into skepticism
1 year, 7 months ago

The US’s ambitious plan to cut auto emissions to slow climate change runs into skepticism

The Hindu  

The U.S. government’s most ambitious plan ever to slash planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions from passenger vehicles faces skepticism both about how realistic it is and whether it goes far enough. The Environmental Protection Agency in April announced new strict emissions limits that the agency says are vital to slowing climate change as people around the globe endure record-high temperatures, raging …

California has new weapons to battle summer blackouts: Battery storage, power from record rain
1 year, 8 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: California needs a lot more solar. Why not put panels along highways and parking lots?
1 year, 10 months ago

Editorial: California needs a lot more solar. Why not put panels along highways and parking lots?

LA Times  

California is racing to build enough solar panels, wind turbines and battery storage to meet its carbon-cutting mandates and prepare its electrical grid for worsening heat waves and growing energy demand. That’s why California needs to think creatively and find ways to put more solar energy in already built-out places, including rooftops and parking lots, canals and agricultural fields, so …

Opinion: If California’s regulations are so strict, why is our air still so bad?
1 year, 10 months ago

Opinion: If California’s regulations are so strict, why is our air still so bad?

LA Times  

California just took another step to burnish its reputation as a leader in fighting pollution. Last month, the state’s air regulators set emissions rules for heavier vehicles and locomotives, including a requirement for all cargo trucks entering seaports and rail yards to be “zero-emission” by 2035. We can enact the new rules because the federal Clean Air Act made California …

Editorial: California shouldn’t let power companies get their way on our electric bills
1 year, 11 months ago

Editorial: California shouldn’t let power companies get their way on our electric bills

LA Times  

What Californians pay on their electric bills is based almost entirely on how much power they consume, with maintenance, grid operation and other expenses built into the rates. But because energy use does not vary as much by income as you might think, it means that low-income customers end up spending more of their paychecks supporting the utilities’ infrastructure than …

California approves roadmap for carbon neutrality by 2045
2 years, 3 months 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, 3 months 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 to vote on roadmap for carbon neutrality by 2045
2 years, 3 months ago

California to vote on roadmap for carbon neutrality by 2045

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy California air regulators were set …

California unveils plan to reach carbon neutrality by 2045
2 years, 4 months 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 …

Climate change is rapidly accelerating in California, state report says
2 years, 4 months ago

Climate change is rapidly accelerating in California, state report says

LA Times  

A firefighter goes through the burn zone of the Fairview fire near Hemet on Sept. 9, 2022. Ten of the 20 largest wildfires since 1950 burned in 2020 and 2021, including the record-breaking August Complex, which surpassed 1 million acres in 2020 to become the state’s first “gigafire.” “It is troubling how some of the changes are occurring a lot …

California set a record for greenhouse gas reductions in 2020, but it means nothing
2 years, 5 months 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, 5 months 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 …

Op-Ed: Think bigger. Switching to electric cars isn’t enough
2 years, 6 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, 6 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, 7 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 …

Editorial: California should go bolder on climate, even if it’s an 11th-hour push
2 years, 7 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. …

Federal study: New climate law to slice carbon pollution 40%
2 years, 7 months ago

Federal study: New climate law to slice carbon pollution 40%

Associated Press  

Clean energy incentives in the new spending package signed this week by President Joe Biden will trim America’s emissions of heat-trapping gases by about 1.1 billion tons by 2030, a new Department of Energy analysis shows. The first official federal calculations, shared with The Associated Press before its release Thursday, say that between the bill just signed and last year’s …

Column: California had a nearly $100-billion surplus this year. We don’t need to raise taxes with Prop. 30
2 years, 7 months ago

Column: California had a nearly $100-billion surplus this year. We don’t need to raise taxes with Prop. 30

LA Times  

Passengers make their way to the rideshare location at LAX on Aug. 20, 2020. If Proposition 30 passes in November, we should hang a sign at the border reading: “Welcome to California, the state with the nation’s most outrageously high income tax.” Actually, we wouldn’t need to inform out-of-staters of that embarrassing fact. California already has by far the nation’s …

California’s Newsom wants to accelerate key climate goals
2 years, 7 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 …

How California will fight Supreme Court’s limits on EPA climate enforcement
2 years, 9 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, 9 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 …

Pollution from California’s 2020 wildfires likely offset decades of air quality gains
2 years, 9 months ago

Pollution from California’s 2020 wildfires likely offset decades of air quality gains

LA Times  

It was a nightmare fire season that California won’t soon forget. Even as the COVID-19 pandemic took cars off the road and temporarily halted some industries, particulate pollution — widely considered one of the greatest threats to life expectancy — soared to some of the highest levels in decades in parts of California in 2020, according to the Energy Policy …

Editorial: California needs to slash carbon pollution. Its pie-in-the-sky plan falls short
2 years, 9 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, 10 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 set off a biofuel boom — but can it manage the fallout?
3 years ago

California set off a biofuel boom — but can it manage the fallout?

LA Times  

As dawn breaks over 40,000 cows housed in a miles-long cluster of dairy farms near Bakersfield, rivers of their manure rush toward football-field-sized lagoons that are a hotbed of greenhouse gas, bubbling with the methane created by all those cattle droppings. × California is leading the nation into a new era of climate-friendly fuel, or “biofuel,” made out of animal …

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

Biden restores California's power to set car emissions rules
3 years ago

Biden restores California's power to set car emissions rules

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The Biden administration is restoring …

Editorial: California can’t enact a ‘solar tax’ and still be a climate leader
3 years, 1 month ago

Editorial: California can’t enact a ‘solar tax’ and still be a climate leader

LA Times  

Of all the details in California regulators’ plan to slash incentives for installing rooftop solar systems, the most confounding is the idea of charging customers a hefty monthly fee to go solar. The PUC’s sweeping proposal would also dramatically cut the compensation solar customers receive for the electricity they provide to the grid through a key incentive program, called net …

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

Should California make solar more expensive? Inside the climate justice battle
3 years, 4 months ago

Should California make solar more expensive? Inside the climate justice battle

LA Times  

Parakeets and lovebirds were chirping in Marta Patricia Martinez’s frontyard as a crew of solar installers climbed onto her roof. “We will fall horribly short of our clean energy goals if we kill the rooftop solar market,” said Bernadette Del Chiaro, executive director of the California Solar & Storage Assn. Building lots of rooftop solar “makes it easier and cheaper.” …

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