Commentary from Tom Kersten, Demos' President
July, 2008

Reduce California Greenhouse Gas Emissions to 1990 Levels by 2020

Last week, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) released its Draft AB 32 Scoping Plan, detailing how the state plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. Traci Sheehan, Executive Director of the The Planning and Conservation League (PCL), praised the scoping plan as an important milestone for the state in fighting climate change through substantial deduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

The comprehensive plan includes a major commitment to expand renewable energy, increase energy efficiency, and improve water management. However, the PCL also criticized the plan for not going far enough to reform land use provisions.

Rather than require stricter local mandates, the plan merely encourages local governments to adopt new standards though various rewards and incentives. Without stricter standards, this could leave the door open to a business as usual approach between local governments and developers. "The final plan should require any increase in greenhouse emissions from land use decisions to be fully mitigated, and also explicitly require that public agencies use CEQA as a tool to quantify and reduce potential greenhouse gas emissions from proposed projects."

The preliminary recommendation in this Draft Plan has been developed by ARB staff after considering public comment and input from the Climate Action Team, the Environmental Justice Advisory Committee (EJAC), the Economic and Technology Advancement Advisory Committee (ETAAC), and the Market Advisory Committee (MAC). The Proposed Plan, which will be released in October, 2008, will be based on additional staff modeling and analysis, consideration of public comment on the Draft Plan, recommendations from the advisory committees and other experts.

All of the measures in the Proposed Plan will be analyzed for the impacts they will have on the economy, public health and the environment, including effects on low-income communities. The Proposed Plan will have a 45-day comment period before the Board considers adoption at its November meeting. The Scoping Plan, even after Board approval, will remain a plan. The measures in the Scoping Plan must be adopted through the normal rulemaking process, with the necessary public input.

Key elements of ARB's preliminary recommendation for reducing California's greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 include:

• Expansion and strengthening of existing energy efficiency programs and building and appliance standards
• Expansion of the Renewables Portfolio Standard to 33 percent
• Development of a California cap-and-trade program that links with other WCI Partner programs to create a regional market system
• Implementation of existing State laws and policies, including California's clean car standards, goods movement measures, and the Low Carbon Fuel Standard
• Targeted fees to fund the State's long-term commitment to AB 32 administration

June, 2008, Fear, Anger and Courage in the Gilded Age