by SACRAMENTO, California (AP) — California weather regulators unanimously voted Thursday to approve an ambitious plan to drastically reduce reliance on fossil fuels by changing practices in the energy, transportation and agriculture sectors, but critics say it doesn’t go far enough to tackle climate change.
The plan aims to achieve so-called carbon neutrality by 2045, which means the government will remove as much carbon emissions from the atmosphere as it does. It aims to do this in part by reducing fossil fuel demand by 86% over this time frame.
California has previously set this carbon neutral goal, but Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law earlier this year making it mandatory. The Democrat said drastic changes are needed to position California as a global climate leader.
“We’re making history here in California,” Newsom said on Thursday.
But the road to approval of the plan by the California Air Resources Board was not without criticism. Capturing large amounts of carbon and storing it underground is one of the most controversial elements of the proposal. Critics say this gives the state’s biggest emitters reason not to do enough of their part to mitigate climate change.
In a meeting that lasted several hours, activists, residents and experts took their last chance to discuss the plan before the board voted. Many said that while the latest version isn’t perfect, it’s an improvement over previous drafts, and the government is committed to doing more to reduce emissions that cause planetary warming.
Board member Davina Hurt said she is proud that California is approaching its goal of becoming carbon neutral.
“I’m glad this plan is bold and aggressive,” Hurt said.
The plan does not commit the state to any specific action, but sets out a broad roadmap for how California can achieve its goals. Here are the highlights:
Implementation of the plan depends on the state’s ability to move away from fossil fuels and rely more on renewable sources for energy. It calls for the government to reduce demand for liquid petroleum fuels by 94% by 2045 and to quadruple solar and wind capacity within the same time frame.
Another goal is that new residential and commercial buildings will be powered by electrical appliances before the next decade.
Calls to dramatically reduce reliance on oil and gas come as public officials continue to grapple with how to avoid blackouts as record-breaking heat waves force Californians to turn on their air conditioners.
And the Western States Petroleum Association contested the plan’s timeline.
“CARB’s final draft of the Scoping Plan acknowledges what dozens of studies have confirmed – the complete phasing out of oil and gas is unrealistic,” the group’s chairman, Catherine Reheis-Boyd, said in a statement. “An unrealistic plan is not really a plan.”
At the start of Thursday’s meeting, California Air Resources Board Chairman Liane Randolph touted the latest version of the plan as the most ambitious to date. It underwent changes after public comments earlier this year.
“Ultimately, achieving carbon neutrality requires using all the tools at our disposal to reduce emissions and store carbon,” Randolph said.
Authorities hope that moving away from gas-powered cars and trucks will reduce greenhouse gas emissions while limiting the public health impact of the chemicals these vehicles release.
In a letter to the weather board in July, Newsom asked the agency to approve aggressive cuts in emissions from airplanes. This will accompany other reductions in the transportation sector as the state transitions to all zero-emission vehicle sales by 2035.
The plan’s goals include ensuring that 20% of aviation fuel demand by 2045 comes from electricity or hydrogen sources, and that all medium-duty vehicles sold are zero-emissions by 2040. On gas in the state from 2035.
The plan refers to carbon capture as a “necessary tool” to be implemented in the state, among other strategies to mitigate climate change. It calls for the state to capture 100 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent and store it underground by 2045.
Connie Cho, an attorney for the environmental justice group Communities for a Better Environment, described the plan as a “big step forward” in reducing climate change and protecting public health.
“Our communities have suffered from chronic diseases for too long and are dying at disproportionate rates because of the legacy of environmental racism in this country,” Cho said.
But Cho has criticized carbon capture targets, arguing that while the state reduces emissions in other areas, it provides a way for refineries to continue polluting the environment.
One of the targets is to achieve a 66% reduction in methane emissions from the agricultural sector by 2045. Cattle are a major source of emissions of methane, a powerful, planet-warming gas.
Implementation of the plan will also mean that the agricultural sector will rely less on fossil fuels as an energy source.
