California governor extends global warming reduction plan

 

California’s Governor Jerry Brown has issued an executive order to expand the state’s current program; he aims to decrease greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2030 compared to that of 1990. Brown stated that global warming is “an ever-growing threat” to California, and that he hopes to set an example for not only the remainder of the country but the world through his urgency. Current state law aims to reduce emissions by 80 percent by 2050.

“It’s a real test,” Brown relayed in his speech at an environmental conference in Los Angeles. “Not just for California, not just for America, but for the world. Can we rise above the parochialisms, the ethno-centric perspectives, the immediacy of I-want-I-need, to a vision, a way of life, that is sustainable?” Brown attributes some blame for California’s drought to global warming, faster melting snow, rising sea level, increasing intensity and frequency of wildfires, heat waves, increasing smog, and land degradation. In his State address in January, Brown called for the reduction of gas consumption by cars and trucks by up to 50 percent in the coming 15 years.

“With this order, California sets a very high bar for itself and other states and nations,” Brown said. “But it’s one that must be reached – for this generation and generations to come.”

 

Information for this article was taken from www.nytimes.com and www.huffingtonpost.com

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