#climate plan

Excerpt from this story from Inside Climate News:

A public hearing last month turned into the latest flashpoint between California regulators and a coalition of environmental and social justice activists over how the state should achieve its ambitious climate agenda.

In May, the California Air and Resources Board—or CARB—updated its so-called scoping plan, which acts as a blueprint for how the Golden State will reach a slew of legally binding emissions reduction targets and other climate goals set by executive order. By law, California must reduce statewide greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030, and Gov. Gavin Newsom has also directed the state to become carbon neutral by 2045.

In many ways, CARB’s draft plan offers a bold vision for tackling the climate crisis. But at a June 23 hearing, activists once again voiced their concerns over measures included in the plan that they say significantly undermine its purpose, and threaten to harm the state’s most vulnerable communities.

State officials and energy experts alike have said meeting California’s climate goals would require a massive buildout of renewable energy and a rapid phaseout of fossil fuels. To that end, the updated blueprint proposes several bold strategies, including ramping down statewide oil use by 91 percent over the next two decades, investing in massive public transit expansion projects and committing to planting hundreds of thousands of new trees to help soak up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

But critics say CARB’s plan relies too heavily on unproven carbon removal technologies and includes measures that could worsen air quality in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color.

In particular, environmental justice advocates point to a proposal in the plan that would not only keep all of the state’s natural gas power plants online through 2045, but would add an additional 10 gigawatts of new gas-fired generating capacity. Each gigawatt is roughly equivalent to the electricity generated by one nuclear power plant, according to state officials.

Recent research has shown that California’s gas power plants are disproportionately located near communities with high, cumulative socioeconomic and environmental burdens. And any new gas turbines are likely to be added to existing plants, rather than building new plants to accommodate them, to avoid the additional cost and wait time associated with lengthy state and federal permitting processes, said Ari Eisenstadt, a campaign manager with the California Environmental Justice Alliance.

In hindsight, now that Biden is certified:

The Globe and Mail: “It’s nothing more than a sad joke”

An opinion piece by national affairs columnist Gary Mason asserts that the Conservative climate “plan” is a fraud and decries Scheer’s motive to scrap the national carbon tax.

“Climate change is the greatest threat the world has faced since the rise of Nazism in the early part of the last century. Given the importance of this issue, given the havoc that will be unleashed if nothing is done, how depressing it is to realize that this sham of a document is the best the Conservatives could do,” he wrote.

Clean Prosperity: “Andrew Scheer’s plan is going to cost Canadians more“

Progressive think tank Clean Prosperity published a press release with a run-through of why Scheer’s climate plan misses the mark. “By repealing the carbon tax, Andrew Scheer is taking away the best and lowest cost way to fight climate change.  It’s like trying to build a house without a hammer,” said Michael Bernstein, Executive Director of Canadians for Clean Prosperity.

Excerpt from this story from Earther/Gizmodo:

There’s been a Jay Inslee-sized hole in the presidential race politics ever since the Washington governor dropped out the race last August. He’s got his hands full now with effectively managing the coronavirus outbreak, but the people behind his climate plan are back at it.

On Wednesday, the group dubbed the Evergreen Collaborative released a roadmap for the nation to emerge from the pandemic and hit the ground running pivoting the economy to clean energy. The 85-page plan shared with Earther borrows from Inslee as well as Elizabeth Warren’s expansive climate plans and has actions Congress and the president could take separately or in tandem. The timing comes as presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden looks to make inroads with young, climate-first voters who are a little, uh, unenthused about his climate plan and Congress considers another stimulus to help Americans cope with the coronavirus. They might want to take a look at what’s on offer.

The Evergreen Action Plan also offers a valuable roadmap to the Biden team, which has been sent a copy of the plan along with Congressional Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Minority Lead Chuck Schumer, and House and Senate committees dealing with the climate crisis. Members of Inslee’s climate team have informally advised the Biden campaign as well, which is good because he can use the help on climate.