The bumpy road to carbon neutrality
THE BUZZ: California has proven it can set climate change goals. Now comes the hard part.
State officials at the Air Resources Board passed a major milestone yesterday by giving its stamp of approval to California’s latest scoping plan, the years-long roadmap that lays out how the state plans to reach carbon neutrality by 2045. Doing so will require a serious shift away from fossil fuel, and recent moves by state officials, like the 2035 ban on new gas vehicles and a $54 billion climate package, will help the state get there.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate legislation
The federal government and states are in the process of implementing two laws — the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act — an investment of more than a trillion dollars to address climate change.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”