California off track for 80 percent carbon cut

November 6, 2013

California will fall short of its 2050 greenhouse gas emissions reduction goal if the state does not adopt aggressive measures to fight climate changer, a U.S. Department of Energy report says. [LA Times]

The state is on pace to comply with AB 32 by reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases to 1990 levels by 2020, according to the report Department of Energy report released Monday. But, California is not on target to achieve a 2050 carbon emissions reduction goal set by former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

In 2005, Schwarzenegger issued Executive Order S-3-05, which mandates emissions reductions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.

“It is a very ambitious target and we can’t get there with existing policies and technologies,” said Jeffrey Greenblatt, a Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory employee, who wrote the report.

The study found that even under the state’s most ambitious plans, in which 51 percent of California electricity would come from renewable sources and vehicles would average 78 miles per gallon, greenhouse gas emissions would remain more than twice as high as the 2050 target.

Under such circumstances, California would release 188 million metric tons of carbon dioxide by 2050. The Schwarzenegger executive order mandates releasing no more than 85 million metric tons.

In 2011, emissions totaled 448 million metric tons.