California may already be the U.S. state with the most ambitious climate targets, but it is now set to stretch its emissions goal even further with the introduction of new binding targets to slash emissions to 40 per cent below 1990 levels by 2030.
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The California State Senate and Assembly passed what are being hailed as a pair of groundbreaking climate bills, SB 32 and AB 197, which Gov.
While we are celebrating the votes that show the rest of the nation and the world that California will not give up on trying to stave off the worst effects of climate change, there is more work to do in California’s capitol in the coming days, as several other important clean air bills await passage.
California legislature is once again setting the new laws to help combat climate change.
The bill cleared the state Senate in a 25-12 vote on Wednesday.
The new legislation builds upon the 2006 law that set the aggressive 2020 goal the state is now working towards, which sought to cut down on the greenhouse emissions flowing from automobiles and industry alike. The bills remove questions over the state’s authority to extend its climate policies beyond the 2020 timeframe set by the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32), which established the target of reducing GHG emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.
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Both bills related to these new mandates are now on the desk of Governor Jerry Brown, who already pledged to sign them. That law imposed a cap-and-trade program on pollutants in the state; in spite of the governor’s enthusiastic support for such measures, however, the system has reportedly not lived up to expectations, with only 34 percent of available credits being sold this month. “Today, the Assembly Speaker, most Democrats and one fearless Republican passed SB 32, rejecting the brazen deception of the oil lobby and their Trump-inspired allies who deny science and fight every reasonable effort to curb global warming”.
