Statement by Mark Specht, Western States Energy Manager at the Union of Concerned Scientists.
SACRAMENTO — California’s draft plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045 overly relies on carbon dioxide removal and should instead incorporate more ambitious emissions reductions, particularly in the electricity sector, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists.
The Scoping Plan, updated every five years, guides California’s policies for cutting greenhouse gas emissions that are fueling climate change and its dangerous impacts. The California Air Resources Board will hold a hearing today about its proposed 2022 plan before a final vote this fall.
Below is a statement by Mark Specht:
“The plan’s risky reliance on nascent carbon dioxide removal technologies could put the achievement of California’s climate goals in jeopardy. While these technologies have a role in limiting global warming, they are not a substitute for deep, direct emissions cuts that should be the state’s foremost strategy to address climate change.
“In addition, it is alarming that the draft scoping plan calls for the retention of all existing gas plants as well as a large-scale buildout of new gas power plants by 2045. A more prudent and equitable choice would be to drastically reduce electric sector emissions and exclude construction of polluting gas facilities in California communities already impacted by poor air quality.
“The climate change impacts we are experiencing in California, from drought and extreme heat to destructive wildfires, require us to take more urgent action than this plan provides to aggressively replace the use of fossil fuels with renewable energy and energy storage.”
Related stories:
Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News!
Have a tip for CleanTechnica, want to advertise, or want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.
Former Tesla Battery Expert Leading Lyten Into New Lithium-Sulfur Battery Era — Podcast:
I don't like paywalls. You don't like paywalls. Who likes paywalls? Here at CleanTechnica, we implemented a limited paywall for a while, but it always felt wrong — and it was always tough to decide what we should put behind there. In theory, your most exclusive and best content goes behind a paywall. But then fewer people read it! We just don't like paywalls, and so we've decided to ditch ours. Unfortunately, the media business is still a tough, cut-throat business with tiny margins. It's a never-ending Olympic challenge to stay above water or even perhaps — gasp — grow. So ...
