The plan, by the Air Resources Board, envisions California achieving “carbon neutrality” by 2045 — meaning as much carbon removed from the air as emitted. The timeline is among the most ambitious in the U.S.
The plan was put together by air board staff and it is not final; a public comment process will begin and the political appointees who make up the air board will ultimately decide whether to make any changes. The Legislature or other regulatory bodies would have to agree to put the various policies in place. The California Energy Commission, for example, sets building codes.
But neither environmental justice advocates nor the oil industry were happy. Environmental groups blasted the plan for its reliance ontechnologies, which they say allows oil refineries, cement plants and other industries to continue polluting in disadvantaged neighborhoods. They also pointed to a little-noted element of the plan that calls for the expansion of natural gas capacity as a failure by the air board.
“Forcing people to pick certain jobs, certain cars, certain homes, and certain times to use energy is out of touch with how ordinary people live," WSPA President Catherine Reheis-Boyd said in a statement. The plan would put significant new demand on the electric grid, requiring the state to rapidly scale up solar power and storage options, as well as hydrogen infrastructure including pipelines.