SACRAMENTO - (INT) – The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is touting a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions while the state is undergoing its strongest economic growth since 2005.

The 2015 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory, released Wednesday by CARB, found that climate-warming emissions fell by 1.5 million metric tons (MMT) in 2015 compared with 2014. That is equivalent to removing 300,000 vehicles from California's roads for a year.

California has a target of a target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. There is a 2030 target of an additional reduction of 40 percent below 1990 emission levels -
the most ambitious goal in North America. The new data shows that California is on its way to meeting those targets.

The inventory also shows that the carbon intensity of the California economy - the amount of greenhouse gases needed to generate each million dollars of gross state product (GSP) -- has fallen 33 percent since its peak in 2001. During the same period, the state's GSP has grown by 37 percent.

Story Date: June 25, 2017