Last November, California burned. Again. As the Camp Fire devastated the town of Paradise, the Woolsey Fire tore through Malibu. More than 15,000 families — humble retirees and celebrities alike — lost their homes. At least 88 people lost their lives.
For the third time in just over a year, smoke blanketed our state. The long shadow of suffering stretched hundreds of miles for weeks. Hazardous air pollution affected millions of Californians. They were the lucky ones.
Schools closed. Kids were stuck inside for days on end. Again.
Climate change has many names — like Maria, Harvey, Sandy, or Katrina. No region is exempt, whether it’s the melting permafrost that underlies Alaska or the vanishing fisheries that sustain so many.
There is no longer a conflict between mitigation and adaptation. We must do both. And do it quickly, before the costs of inaction become insurmountable.
That is why, ahead of the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco last September, then Governor Jerry Brown signed an executive order calling on California to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible, and no later than 2045, and to achieve and maintain negative emissions thereafter. It positions California as the largest economy in the world to commit to climate neutrality before mid-century.
Achieving climate neutrality entails four big steps. They are all feasible, and all offer significant economic and health benefits in addition to their role in putting a stop to catastrophic climate change. Each is well underway in California and several other states.
First, we must immediately slash emissions of the most potent, fast-acting “super pollutants” — methane, black carbon, and hydrofluorocarbons. Doing so will save millions of lives globally and cut the expected rate of global warming in half by 2050. California has a detailed plan to cut these harmful pollutants by 40-50 percent by 2030, and plans to launch its own satellite capable of pinpointing methane leaks around the world, allowing fast and cost-effective remedial action.
Second, we must transition to 100 percent clean energy, wherever possible and as quickly as possible. California is one of an increasing number of jurisdictions committed to 100 percent clean energy in its power grid. Next up are vehicles.
With renewable power already cheaper than fossil fuels and electric cars and trucks promising to be so soon, these transitions will lower energy and transportation costs for families and businesses, while improving public health. We must accelerate these transitions through incentives, infrastructure investment, regulations, and improved education and outreach.
Third, we must quickly scale carbon dioxide removal strategies. California has committed $1 billion to improve management of our forests and reduce wildfire risk, with the goal of enabling forests to pull and store more carbon from the atmosphere. We will significantly ramp up efforts to protect our natural landscapes and rural communities, and unleash their potential in the fight against climate change.
With emerging technologies, we will pull carbon dioxide from the air and put it to use to make clean fuels and new materials — creating entire new industries. California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard offers one proving ground for these technologies and industries. We need a mix of new policies, including financial and regulatory incentives, to move rapidly from the laboratory to the mainstream.
Finally, we must work together. California has the will and the ability to be a test bed for innovation, but we need collaborators to foster global action. We need to create new partnerships with cities, regions, and civil society actors to fight climate change and its ugly sibling air pollution, which together threaten the health of children and the most vulnerable in California, and all over the world.
No single approach will work everywhere. Greenhouse gases twine themselves throughout the world economy. Imposing a price on carbon through a tax or a cap-and-trade program is surely necessary, but a carbon price alone does not make car companies build cleaner cars, oil companies provide cleaner fuels, builders construct low-carbon buildings, landfill operators limit methane leaks, or industries transition away from hydrofluorocarbons. Indeed, the recent IPCC report highlights that a mixture of regulations with carbon pricing offers the lowest cost and quickest path to deep decarbonization.
California does not have all the answers, but we have built a model that demonstrates how addressing climate change and growing the economy can reinforce one another. We are on the path and will keep forging ahead, all the way to zero.
Copyright ©2019, Environmental Law Institute®, Washington D.C. www.eli.org. Reprinted by permission from The Environmental Forum®, March-April.