California's potential 2030 GHG target

This is excellent news from California's Governor Jerry Brown at the United Nations (Sacramento Bee):

Brown said California will meet its goal of reducing carbon emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 and within six months will set a new goal for 2030 “that will be more ambitious, that will require more technology and will also require heightened political will.”

I’d expect his starting point will be this chart and the discussion about updated climate science in ARB’s Scoping Plan Update last spring, which established the idea of this curved path from 2020 to 2050. At 5.2% per year that would be a 42% reduction from 2020 to 2030.

 

Climate facts

Oil poisons our air, water, land ...

and climate.

Heat-trapping CO2, the largest driver of global warming, has doubled from human fossil fuel use to levels not seen in over 400,000 years. Impacts already experienced include:

• Heating the atmosphere and ocean (over 90% of excess heat is going into the ocean);
• Melting sea ice, ice sheets, and glaciers;
• Rising sea level;
• Extreme weather including more powerful storms, drought, record heat, and wildfires.

Sources: IPCC, 2013: Summary for Policymakers, page 4; NOAA Vostok ice core and Mauna Loa data; NASA photo.

Over 90% of excess heat is going into the ocean.

Sources: NOAA NODC data; NOAA-NASA GOES Project photo of Hurricane Sandy 10/29/12.

Summer Arctic sea ice volume has dropped by over 2/3 since 1979.

Sources: Polar Science Center data; U.S. FWS photo.


The CO2 emissions path the world is on (red line) is heading far beyond the critical 2 degrees C rise (blue line) and must peak and begin falling soon.

U.S. (15% of world in 2012) and European CO2 emissions are falling slightly, but Chinese (29%), Indian (6%), and other emissions are still rising rapidly. Although second now, the U.S. has the greatest cumulative and per-capita emissions.

Sources: Global Carbon Project 2013, figures 21 and 12.

Transportation is the second-highest U.S. emissions sector, and largest in states like California with less coal-fired electricity.

Source: U.S. EPA data.

Climate Disruption resources

• IPCC
• NASA Global Climate Change
• California Climate Change Just the Facts
• Skeptical Science
• Climate Progress