WELCOME

But the California law was the first step toward such

Nov. 22, 2018 by Kenneth Newton

But the California law was the first step toward such a policy.

The bill, which is expected to get bipartisan support in the California Senate, requires utilities to reduce their coal-fired power plants by 70 percent by 2045 and to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 90 percent by 2050.

As far as what they can do with the emissions from their plants, the California Energy Commission estimates that it will cost the state an average of $22.4 billion by 2050, or $1.5 per person a year.

The state will also need to cut the consumption of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases by the state's grid operators by as much as 12 percent by 2020.

California's utility companies will also need to cut their carbon dioxide pollution by 40 percent over the next three years by 2021.

Meanwhile, the state's utilities will also face a $5 to $10 billion annual budget shortfall — an amount that is expected to reach $20 billion by 2045 — if they continue to cut coal and fossil fuels.

Although the bill is not a sure thing, it's not yet clear that the state will be willing to go down that path.

"We're just not going to get there as fast as expected in terms of getting clean energy back to people, and I think it's going to be very difficult, if not impossible, to pull this off," Brown said.

"I can't tell you how many people would get hurt, especially from this bill and the new policy, but it's not something we're going to be able to do alone."

In January, Brown announced that California has agreed to move into a zero-emission system by 2045. He said the state "is committed to working with the federal government, the Environmental Protection Agency, and California's energy companies to move on from climate change and to ensure California is on track to reduce its carbon footprint by 2045."

California's emissions of greenhouse gases are the second highest in the country after Texas and Washington, which both aim to reduce their use from as much as 40 percent by 2045. But these systems are expected to generate less power than those in the United States — and could have the biggest impact on greenhouse gas emissions even as they're being built.

"The bill just shows that the Obama administration is committed to making sure California is fully on track to reduce its carbon footprint by 2045," said Richard W. Zabriskie, an energy research fellow at the Union of Concerned Scientists.