THANK GOODNESS FOR JERRY BROWN, Gov. of California!! If California Gov. Jerry Brown has his way, the Golden State is about to go green in a big way. As is often the case, as California goes, so goes the nation. So get ready for more electric cars and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in garages powered by solar and wind energy. Inaugurated for his fourth term on Monday, Brown laid out an ambitious agenda to ramp up California’s fight against climate change by obtaining 50 percent of the state’s electricity from renewable sources by 2030 and slashing in half the amount of petroleum used in cars and trucks. “California has the most far-reaching environmental laws of any state and the most integrated policy to deal with climate change of any political jurisdiction in the western hemisphere,” he said. “These efforts, impressive though they are, are not enough.” “The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, backed up by the vast majority of the worlds scientists, has set an ambitious goal of limiting warming to 2 degrees Celsius by the year 2050 through drastic reductions of greenhouse gases,” he added. “If we have any chance at all of achieving that, California, as it does in many areas, must show the way. We must demonstrate that reducing carbon is compatible with an abundant economy and human well-being.” Translating those words into action will not be easy, and Brown is sure to face resistance from big utilities, the oil industry, and Republicans over new regulations to implement his green energy targets. The expansion of solar power plants and wind farms also depends on continued subsidies from the federal government. But renewable energy and transportation experts say Brown is not California dreaming. “I think its a completely feasible goal,” Shayle Kann, a senior vice president at GTM Research, a renewable energy consulting firm, said in an email. Kann noted that the state is on track to meet an existing mandate to obtain a third of its electricity from solar, wind, and other renewable sources by 2020. “The only way to build up to 50 percent renewable energy in California is through a mix of technologies,” Kann said. “Well have to see growth in wind, solar, and other renewables, as well as the emergence of energy storage.” That could mean the continuation of tax breaks and the introduction of other financial incentives for homeowners to put solar panels on their roofs and buy batteries and other energy systems to store electricity generated by rooftop arrays. Given that transportation accounts for 40 percent of California’s greenhouse gas emissions, Brown needs to get drivers out of their fossil fuel–powered cars. California leads in electric car sales, but battery-powered vehicles remain a tiny market. While the state is building a network of hydrogen fuel stations, a small number of fuel cell cars are just beginning to hit the road. (Pasted it ALL!)
Posted on: Tue, 20 Jan 2015 03:23:35 +0000
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