California is doing its best to combat global warming and State lawmakers approved a record $54 billion in spending on a series of new climate bills Wednesday night..
Among the measures that California will take, preventing the closure of Diablo Canyon, the state’s last nuclear power plant, tough new restrictions on oil and gas drillingand a mandate for California to stop emitting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere by 2045.
The bills, passed around midnight after two years of legislative work in Sacramento, marked a victory for Gov. Gavin Newsom.a Democrat seeking to present himself as a climate leader by raising his national profile and fueling rumors of a possible flight from the White House.
In mid-August, Newsom urged lawmakers to pass several major climate bills. All of his proposals were passed except for one: a bill to strengthen the state’s 2030 goal of reducing warming greenhouse gas emissions, which failed to win four votes in the State Assembly.
California at the forefront
New shares of California, the world’s fifth largest economy, give impetus to growing efforts across the country to control greenhouse gas emissions from burning oil, gas and coal, which are overheating the planet.
Last month, President Joe Biden signed a sweeping climate bill that would invest $370 billion over the next decade in low-emission energy sources such as wind, solar and nuclear.
Nonetheless, federal efforts are not enough to eliminate greenhouse gases by 2050 without the active participation of state governments..
California has one of the strictest policies in the country to promote renewable energy and move away from fossil fuels.. Among the most recent moves, California aviation regulators have approved a plan to ban sales of new gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035. Other states may adopt this policy, and it is expected to accelerate the global transition to electric vehicles.
California lawmakers previously set a goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40% from 1990 levels by 2030.
Under the law passed on Wednesday, California must now cut emissions by at least 85% by 2045 and offset the remaining emissions by planting more trees or using yet unproven technologies such as direct air capture, which collects gases after they are released into the atmosphere..
Other approved bills will require more concrete steps.
Millionaire approved budget
Legislators approved Budget presented by Newsom is $54 billion over five years for climate programs.
The budget provides $6.1 billion for electric vehicles, including money to buy new battery-powered school buses, $14.8 billion for transit and rail projects, plus $8 billion to clean up the grid, $2.7 billion to fight wildfires and $2.8 billion for water supplies. drought relief programs.
As part of this spending package, lawmakers backed the plan keep the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, which provides 9% of California’s electricity without producing polluting emissions, in operation..
The station’s two nuclear reactors were to be shut down in 2024 and 2025. but the new plan extends the timeline to 2029 and 2030 with a $1.4 billion loan to Pacific Gas & Electric, the utility company that runs the plant..
Restrictions for new oil and gas wells
Another controversial measure is the requirement that new oil and gas wells be at least 3,200 feet from homes, schools and hospitals, while existing wells at that distance are subject to strict pollution controls.
California is the seventh-largest oil producer in the country, but has never before introduced restrictive zones around wells, as Colorado and Pennsylvania do.
Proponents of the new containment zones estimate that 2.7 million Californians live within 3,200 feet of oil and gas wells. Last year, the state health commission determined that living near active wells increases the risk of asthma, heart attacks and premature birth..
The bills also direct regulators to establish new rules for the use of carbon capture and storage, which include capturing carbon dioxide from polluting industrial sites and burying it underground.
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Source: La Opinion
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