SACRAMENTO – (INT) – The California Air Resources Board (CARB) approved a plan Thursday to accelerate the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions over the coming decade.

It’s estimated savings to the state in 2030 could total as much as $11 billion dollars in avoided environmental damage from carbon pollution.

Eleven years ago, the landmark Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32) set the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. California is on track to exceed that target, while the state’s economic growth has continued to outpace the rest of the country. The 2017 Climate Change Scoping Plan, approved unanimously by CARB Thursday, sets the state on a course to reduce climate-changing gases an additional 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030.

CARB figures that by 2030, California could be saving as much as $11 billion dollars in avoided environmental damage from carbon pollution.

The plan calls for:

• More Clean Cars and Trucks
• Increased Renewable Energy
• Slashing Super-Pollutants
• Cleaner Industry and Electricity
• Cleaner Fuels
• Smart Community Planning
• Improved Agriculture and Forests

Story Date: December 25, 2017