When Gov. Jerry Brown arrives in Paris next week for a major international conference on climate change, he will showcase one of the world’s most sweeping programs to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
California has perhaps the most comprehensive cap-and-trade program in the world, setting a limit and a price for pollution from factories, utilities, and transportation fuels. The state’s 2030 goals of getting half of its electricity from renewable sources and reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 40 percent below 1990 levels are also among the most ambitious anywhere.
As the world’s eighth-largest economy, California is often cited as an international example of what is possible on climate, alongside powerhouses like Germany.
“California definitely is in a leadership role, and has been for quite a long time,” said Richard Kinley, a top official with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which is the forum for the Paris conference. The state, he added, has “a lot of opportunity” to work with other jurisdictions to push for climate action.
While the state is a global model for climate poli... Read more
