AB32

The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 was co-authored by Assembly Member Fran Pavley and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez and signed into law by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on September 27, 2006. The bill is 13 pages in length and focuses on GHG emissions reduction goals. The bill also specifies which California agencies are responsible for meeting these goals. There are no new prescriptive air quality regulations in the bill requiring emissions reductions by sector or application. Rather, AB 32 serves as California's roadmap to GHG emissions reduction by listing goals and timelines and giving new authority to existing agencies to meet these goals.

AB-32 begins by stating:

Global warming poses a serious threat to the economic well-being, public health, natural resources, and the environment of California. The potential adverse impacts of global warming include the exacerbation of air quality problems, a reduction in the quality and supply of water to the state from the Sierra snowpack, a rise in sea levels resulting in the displacement of thousands of coastal businesses and residences, damage to marine ecosystems and the natural environment, and an increase in the incidences of infectious diseases, asthma, and other human health-related problems.

This statement is meant to effectively end the scientific debate in California over the existence and consequences of global warming. The bill recognizes that GHG reduction in California will require similar reductions by other states and countries in order to be meaningful. As such, California's voluntary emission reductions specified in AB 32 are an attempt to establish a global leadership role on climate change abatement and to act as a blueprint for other states and nations to reduce their respective GHG emissions.

The heart of the bill is the requirement that statewide GHG emissions must be reduced to 1990 levels by the year 2020.

The heart of the bill is the requirement that statewide GHG emissions be reduced to 1990 levels by the year 2020. The bill requires the CARB to adopt rules and regulations in an open public process to achieve the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective GHG reductions, as specified. By January 1, 2008, CARB is required to adopt regulations to require reporting of statewide GHG emissions and determine the official emissions level thought to exist in 1990, which will effectively set the 2020 emission cap. No later than January 1, 2011, CARB is required to set enforceable regulations, which will go into effect on January 1, 2012, and which will be designed to meet the 2020 GHG emission target.

The bill authorizes the use of market-based compliance mechanisms, which are also known as "cap and trade" programs. Market-based approaches to GHG emission reduction are currently in use in Europe and are also being implemented in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states as part of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). A cap and trade program was previously used in the United States to address acid rain precursors in the Northeast. There is also specific language to support the use of AB 32 to abate other air quality issues, such as ozone, particulate matter (PM), and toxic air contaminant exposures "to the extent feasible and in furtherance of achieving the statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit."

Until CARB finalizes the 1990 emission inventory, most policy makers are using the Climate Action Team Report submitted to the California governor and legislature in March 2006 for GHG inventory estimates. The draft GHG budget was recently presented by CARB on January 22, 2007, and is reproduced here as Figures 1 through 3. As shown in Figure 1, California needs to reduce GHG emissions by approximately 25% by the year 2020 to achieve the goals specified in AB 32. As shown in Figure 2, CO2 represents approximately 83% of California's GHG emissions. Lastly, as shown in Figure 3, the transportation sector is responsible for roughly 40% of GHG emissions, and electric power and industrial processing contribute approximately 20% each.

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