On April 29, 2015, California Governor Jerry Brown issued an Executive Order setting stricter greenhouse
gas emissions limits for the state. The Order directs state
agencies with appropriate jurisdiction to implement measures to
reduce GHG emissions to 40 percent of 1990 levels by 2030, in order
to achieve the ultimate requirement (imposed by former Governor
Schwarzenegger by Executive Order) of reducing GHG emissions by 80
percent from 1990 levels by 2050. The California Air Resources
Board ("CARB") has not yet announced what regulations it
will adopt or amend to achieve the required additional reductions.
Governor Brown's January 2015 Inaugural Address provides some clues. In that
Address, the Governor made three proposals for reducing GHG
emissions by 2030: increase to 50 percent California's
electricity derived from
renewable sources, reduce the state's petroleum use in cars
and trucks by up to 50 percent, and double the efficiency of
existing buildings and make heating fuels cleaner. He also proposed
reducing emissions of short-lived climate pollutants and managing
farms, rangelands, forests, and wetlands to increase their storage
of carbon. These proposals "align" with the new 40
percent reduction requirement, according to the Air Resources Board.
CARB plans to update its Climate Change Scoping Plan by 2016, which
will provide a framework for achieving the 40 percent reduction
target. We would expect CARB to promulgate new regulations to
comply with the governor's Executive Order as well. Senate Bill
32 is pending in the California Legislature. This bill, if adopted
by the Legislature and signed by Governor Brown, would codify the
required 80 percent reduction by 2050 into California law and would
authorize CARB to set interim limits for 2030 and 2040.
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