Against all odds, California keeps fighting for a green future. Thirty seven minutes after Trump got sworn into the U.S. Presidency, California released new measures to take action against climate change. The measures will aim towards the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent of 1990 levels by 2030.
Being the world’s sixth largest economy, California keeps implementing the most strict laws against climate change and the greenhouse gas effect. Its major aim is towards decreasing the carbon emission by focusing on transportation.
The state calls for 4.2 million zero-emission cars to be on the road by 2030 and increase the number of electric vehicle charging stations. Besides transportation, California focuses on oil refineries, implementing guidelines for a 20 percent decrease in their greenhouse gas emissions.
Pruitt, the candidate for the secretary position of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), stated that he has doubts about the science behind the climate change. This means that the Trump Administration will work towards a more flexible environmental policy that will affect the economy less.
Even now, the Trump Administration has removed all of the content related to climate change from the White House website, claiming such statements and Climate Action Plan to be crucially detrimental towards the U.S. economy. Although this can be a short solution for the U.S. economy, the long term effects of ignoring the climate change can be vital to human life and standards.
While Pruitt has once sued the Obama administration over the Clean Power Plan, California is clear about its agenda and policy on climate change. After the Paris Agreement, which holds great impact on setting an international standard towards decreasing greenhouse gas emissions, California seems to be the state that keeps this international promise.
While the fossil fuel and oil reserves are exponentially decreasing, renewable energy and zero-emission vehicles seem to be the only solutions towards a clean future and energy independency.
[via reuters]
