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California released a bold climate plan, but critics say it will harm vulnerable communities and undermine its goals

(Inside Climate News, 5 Jul 2022) Environmental justice and climate advocacy groups say the draft plan relies too heavily on carbon capture and could increase pollution in low-income neighborhoods.

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.

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Inside Climate News, 5 Jul 2022: California released a bold climate plan, but critics say it will harm vulnerable communities and undermine its goals