California Releases Draft Scoping Plan For GHG Emissions Reduction

On June 26, 2008 the California Air Resources Board ("CARB") released a draft of California's scoping plan for the reduction of greenhouse gas ("GHG") emissions. This was a major step towards the implementation of Assembly Bill ("AB") 32, the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. CARB will continue to solicit public input on the draft scoping plan until early October. A revised proposed n scoping plan will be then released and will be considered by the CARB in November.

The draft plan calls for cutting greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2020. While this is a 30% reduction from "business-as-usual" emission levels (the level that emissions would reach by 2020 without any attempts at reduction), it is only about a 10% reduction from today's levels. The 2020 goal is not the end of the emission reduction effort. By 2050, California hopes to reduce emissions to 80% below