OAKLAND, Calif. (September 8, 2016)—Gov. Jerry Brown will sign a bill this morning that requires California to reduce its global warming pollution 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030. He also will sign a companion bill that increases the emphasis on direct reductions and gives the California Air Resources Board, the agency charged with implementing state climate policy, enhanced legislative oversight.
Below is a statement by Adrienne Alvord, the Western states director at the Union of Concerned Scientists. Alvord helped craft California’s first global warming bill in 2006 when she worked as the environmental policy director for that bill’s author, Fran Pavley, who also wrote the bill being signed today, which builds on that original legislation.
“This bill preserves California’s place as a global climate leader by ensuring it will reduce emissions more than any other state in the nation. The scale and ambition of this bill will also keep California at the forefront of clean technology investment for years to come.
“In the 10 years since the California Global Warming Solutions Act became law, the state’s economy and renewable energy generation capacity have grown, while climate pollution and oil and electricity consumption have dropped. Similarly, investment in clean technology companies has grown by nearly 600 percent. This bill reassures clean energy businesses and investors that California will stay open for business.
“The bill also has the foresight to ensure that the needs of communities hit hardest by climate change and air pollution will continue to be prioritized in the state’s policies.”