California to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions to 1990 Levels

Assembly Bill 32 (AB 32, 2006) mandates a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. Since cars and light-duty trucks represent 46% of total greenhouse gas emissions, all we have to do is tell the automakers what emissions goals they need to reach, and that should solve the problem, right? Well, no. There’s a smarter way to go about it.

If we continue to assume that people will keep driving cars, and that the population is expected to increase, the carmakers alone are not going to be able to solve the problem. What about changing the existing assumptions? What if people didn’t have to drive as far? What if they more of them took public transportation? Could thinking like that, combined with lower emissions from the biggest polluters, enable us to reduce greenhouse gasses (ghg’s) in spite of an increase in population? It could if we build our cities with greenhouse gas emissions in mind. Trees reduce ghg's, so parks need to be an integral part of our city planning. People drive their cars everywhere because that is by far the most convenient way to get somewhere in California. If public transportation came by our homes frequently and went where we wanted to go quickly, we might be encouraged to change our habits. If we lived closer to shopping and work centers, we might not have to commute as far. If telecommuting was an option, some people might commute a lot less.

Enter Senate Bill 375 (SB 375, 2008), which requires a reduction of ghg’s to 1990 levels from new land development or redevelopment projects. It also called for the creation of a technical advisory committee to advise the California Air Resource Board (CARB) on how to reach the 2020 goal.

So where does this committee come from? Who has the knowledge to make such a comprehensive ten-year plan? Twenty-one people have volunteered their time to make this happen. For the most part, they fall into two groups: organizations whose goal is to reduce emissions and organizations who want their cities and counties to thrive. While these goals may seem to be at odds, the job of the Regional Targets Advisory Committee (RTAC) is to make a plan to do both at the same time.

Who is representing our community’s varying interests? Ten committee members are involved in local government and city planning, five are involved in public transportation, five are from organizations that support environmental issues, and one from a California new home builder. They come from all of the major metropolitan areas as well as universities and state-wide organizations.

The RTAC report to the California Air Resources Board is due at the end of September. In the next two months, they will put together recommendations of actions and measurements that will enable each region to meet the required goals, taking into consideration the capabilities of each entity and current and projected economic factors. No small feat.

When they’re done, they’ll have accomplished something that could not have been done without a huge long-term commitment from a wide variety of organizations. This is the only kind of effort that can possibly make a significant dent in greenhouse gasses in California.