California’s carbon emissions are down to ’90s levels - Grist | Grist

It’s Friday, and California’s carbon emissions are down to ’90s levels.

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Greenhouse gas emissions in the Golden State are back to where they were when Macaulay Culkin was battling burglars and MC Hammer first told us he was too legit to quit.

The California Air Resources Board said Wednesday that the state had hit its goal of bringing emissions to 1990 levels four years ahead of schedule. The drop came thanks to a boom in renewables and improvements in efficiency: The biggest reductions came from the electric power sector, where an increase in wind and solar energy has been displacing fossil fuels.

“California set the toughest emissions targets in the nation, tracked progress, and delivered results,” Governor Jerry Brown said in a statement.

The state actually hit the goal in 2016 and is only reporting it now because it takes a while to crunch the numbers. A 2006 law set the target and put the Air Resources Board in charge of charting the state’s progress.

The board’s report shows that carbon emissions dropped 13 percent from their recent peak, while the average Californian’s carbon footprint shrank 23 percent, to 10.8 metric tons per person — about half the national average.

The results put the lie to the canard that emissions can only fall when an economy shrinks — the Golden State’s economy boomed as it cut emissions. And California has already set its next milestone: It’s hoping to cut emissions another 40 percent by 2030, which Brown called “a heroic and very ambitious goal.” Hella yes!

— Nathanael Johnson

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