Local news channel NBC7 talked with Dr. Kate Ricke, who holds a joint appointment with UCSD’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography and School of Global Policy and Strategy and is a research affiliate of Scripp’s Center for Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation about the state’s emission goals. A new report shows that California has successfully meet the statewide emissions goals set in 2004, after greenhouse gas emissions peaked to concerning levels. Dr. Ricke linked California’s early success to a rise in renewable energy, especially solar, and emphasized that the actions taken to reduce our emissions have been good for our economy as well. “The proof is here, that you don’t have to sacrifice quality of life and a robust economy by making these changes that will protect our climate system.”
The goal to reduce emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 has been met– meaning the state has met its goal two years early.
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