To compliment the efforts by the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative out east, and the Western Climate Initiative in the west, California just passed Assembly Bill 32 (AB 32) which will require the state to return its greenhouse gas emissions down to 1990 levels by 2020.  This would entail a 30% reduction from current levels, and would put the state on track to reduce these emissions by 80% by 2050.

In the efforts to improve the environment, reduce our dependence on imported crude, diversify energy solutions, enhance public health, and create new jobs, California is the first state to adopt such stringent requirements with regard to climate change.  The California Air Resources Board has been charged with implementing this legislation, and President Obama has indicated that he will be following the state’s lead in order to implement a similar program on the national level.

Potential sources of emissions reductions will come from the following sectors which will be most heavily affected: transportation, forestry, construction, energy, and agriculture.  The state will be using a mix of strategies that includes sector-specific regulations, market mechanisms, voluntary measures, fees and incentives, and these measures will go into affect in 2012.

A new UC Berkeley study found that AB 32 has the potential to increase the annual gross state product by $76 billion, and create 403,000 new jobs.  As always, the devil is in the details, but this legislation is yet another indication that the move to adopting a federal climate policy is closer than ever before, and brings us in closer to becoming a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol.

To download a presentation by FD on AB 32, click here: AB 32 Presentation

Tim Woodall at FD Element