Despite some concerns in specific areas, California’s statewide greenhouse gas reduction is on track to achieve the 2020 goals set by Assembly Bill 32, the state Air Resources Board’s most recent emission inventory indicates, said Dave Clegern, Air Board spokesman.
The latest edition of California’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG) Inventory contains figures from 2013, when emissions fell by 1.5 million metric tons compared with the previous year, Clegern said.
The reduction took place while the economy grew at 2 percent, a rate greater than the national average, he said.
“This inventory provides convincing evidence that California can grow its economy and continue to fight climate change,” said Mary D. Nichols, Air Resources Board chairperson. “As we move toward an international climate agreement in Paris, California is showing the world how to throw off the shackles of fossil fuel dependency.
“No longer must economic growth result in smokestacks and pollution. California is on a sustainable trajectory toward a clean energy economy.”
Nichols called the annual statewide emissions inventory “an important tool” that helps the board establish a history of emissions trends and track California’s progress toward the goals set by AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, to reduce emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.
California has developed an integrated set of programs to meet that goal. Among the components are the Renewable Portfolio Standard, the Advanced Clean Cars program, the Low Carbon Fuel Standard and the Cap-and-Trade Program. Reductions also result from numerous energy-efficiency and conservation programs.
Gov. Jerry Brown has further established a 2030 greenhouse gas reduction goal of 40 percent below 1990 levels, an interim target toward meeting the 2050 goal of reducing emissions 80 percent below 1990 levels.
California has joined other states and provinces throughout the world in an unprecedented agreement called the “Under 2 MOU,” to limit global warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius. That pact may be a guide for an international agreement this year at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris.
Data in the California GHG inventory comes from a number of sources, including California’s Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Reporting Regulation, the California Energy Commission and the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
California emissions rose during the 2000s, but started falling in 2008, a change credited to the recession. That decline leveled off from 2009 to 2011 as the economy improved, and rose by 2 percent in 2012 in part because of the closure of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station and a decline in hydropower generation, Clegern said.
“The drop in hydropower has now been completely replaced by in-state wind and solar power,” he said. “The 2013 inventory shows a decline of 1.5 million metric tons in emissions compared with 2012.”
He said overall trends in the inventory also reflect a drop in carbon intensity of the state’s economy, saying the amount of carbon pollution per million dollars of gross domestic product (GDP) is declining.
“Carbon intensity has dropped 23 percent from the peak in 2001 and declined an average of 1.9 percent per year over the past four years as GDP grew 6.6 percent overall during the same period,” he said. “This demonstrates a decoupling of economic growth and carbon pollution.”
Per capita emissions continued their decline. From 2000 to 2013, GHG emissions in California dropped from a peak of 14 tons per person in 2001 to 12 tons per person in 2013, he said, a 14-percent decrease overall.
Emissions from most major economic sectors in California either declined or remained flat in 2013, he said. Industrial emissions remained about the same as in 2012, while the electric power sector showed a slight decrease from 2012.
Emissions from the transportation sector rose by a single percentage point compared to 2012, but are still down 11 percent from the peak year of 2007, Clegern said. “The main source of the rise in transportation emissions was the increased use of diesel by trucks. Transportation remains the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions at 37 percent of total emissions.”
The Air Resources Board is also tracking short-lived climate pollutants such as methane, black carbon and fluorinated gases, Clegern said, because of the relatively quick reduction in warming that can be achieved, he said. Later this year, the panel plans to release a strategic plan to reduce these pollutants, which have the potential to “warm the atmosphere hundreds and even thousands of times more than CO2,” he said.
Those interested in examining the board’s strategies may visit the website www.arb.ca.gov/cc/shortlived/shortlived.htm; to read about GHG reduction programs, visit www.arb.ca.gov/cc/cc.htm. The California Greenhouse Gas Inventory is available at www.arb.ca.gov/cc/inventory/inventory.htm.
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More oil company news the community can use…
From the above article:
“California has joined other states and provinces throughout the world in an unprecedented agreement called the “Under 2 MOU,” to limit global warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius. That pact may be a guide for an international
agreement this year at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris.”
From the post(s) below: more valuable information i.e. a Special Report:( Source; Union of Concerned Scientists–Science for a for a Healthy Planet and a Safer World) for our city staff; citizenry and our appointed and elected officials to seriously ponder…
“Big Oil Knew. Big Oil Lied. And Planet Earth Got Fried.”
“New report exposes why fossil fuel companies didn’t need the warning from the public scientific community to start a decades-long campaign of denial. They already knew their business model was a threat”.
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/07/09/big-oil-knew-big-oil-lied-and-planet-earth-got-fried
And more valuable data for our public officials to read, comprehend and act upon.
“The Climate Deception Dossiers”
“Internal fossil fuel industry memos reveal decades of disinformation—a deliberate campaign to deceive the public that continues even today.”
“Containing 85 internal memos totaling more than 330 pages, the seven dossiers reveal a range of deceptive tactics deployed by the fossil fuel industry. These include forged letters to Congress, secret funding of a supposedly independent scientist, the creation of fake grassroots organizations, multiple efforts to deliberately manufacture uncertainty about climate science, and more.”
http://www.ucsusa.org/global-warming/fight-misinformation/climate-deception-dossiers-fossil-fuel-industry-memos#sources
“For, in the final analysis, our most common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s future. And we are all mortal.”
— President John F. Kennedy
From the above article:
“California has joined other states and provinces throughout the world in an unprecedented agreement called the “Under 2 MOU,” to limit global warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius. That pact may be a guide for an international agreement this year at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris.”
From the post(s) below more historical information and news about limiting global warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius. For our children, grand-children our community and our appointed and elected leaders (past and present) to seriously comprehend…
“This December the world’s nations will gather in Paris to attempt to come to grips with climate change. The stakes are high, and all signs point a massive collision between the physics of what is required to limit climate change to safe levels, and the politics of what’s achievable. Unfortunately, politics seems to be winning.”
“This poses an existential threat to humanity and the global ecosystem because in a conflict between physics and politics, physics always wins.”
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2015/07/12/will-we-save-world-paris-summit-and-last-exit-armageddon
And also consider:
“Limiting warming to no more than two degrees has become the de facto target for global climate policy. But there are serious questions about whether policymakers can keep temperature rise below the limit, and what happens if they don’t.”
http://www.carbonbrief.org/blog/2014/12/two-degrees-a-selected-history-of-climate-change-speed-limit/
Will your pointing of fingers is a joke. I suggest you read the pending bill AB1110. It is not always your enemy fossil fuel and big business. I do understand Will that you are the self appointed”Local Citizen Research Reporter”. Very biased at that.