California not on track to meet climate change mandates -- new analysis says it's not even close

California will fail to meet its ambitious mandates for combating climate change unless the state almost triples its rate of reducing greenhouse gases through 2030, according to a new analysis released today.

After dropping during the pandemic, California’s emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and other climate-warming gases increased 3.4% in 2021, when the economy rebounded. The increase puts California further away from reaching its target mandated under state law: emitting 40% less in 2030 than in 1990 — a feat that will become more expensive and more difficult as time passes, the report’s authors told CalMatters.

“The fact that they need to increase the speed of reduction at about three times faster than they’re actually doing — that does not bode well,” said Stafford Nichols, a researcher at Beacon Economics, a Los Angeles-based economics research firm, and a co-author of the annual California Green Innovation Index released today.

“As we get closer to that 2030 goal, the fact that we’re further off just means that we have to decrease faster each year.”

https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2024/03/27/california-not-on-track-to-meet-climate-change-mandates-new-analysis-says-its-not-even-close/