Today, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) released its proposed 2022 Final Scoping Plan, providing a roadmap for how the state can achieve net-zero emissions by 2045. The Plan identifies a key role for technological carbon dioxide removal (CDR). Specifically, it identifies a need for 75 million tons of technological CDR delivered via a combination of […]
California advances toward climate goals: carbon capture and storage
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change identified that technologies that capture, transport and store carbon dioxide (CO2) are essential for achieving net-zero emissions targets. SB 905 (Caballero; Skinner) establishes a comprehensive framework to deploy carbon capture and storage in California. In this blog post, we review SB 905 and describe how capturing CO2 from industrial […]
California advances toward climate goals: permit streamlining
To achieve net-zero emissions by 2045, the sheer volume of new clean energy projects that must be planned, permitted, built and commissioned in only 23 years is unprecedented. AB 205 – a 2022 budget trailer bill passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor – establishes a number of landmark siting and permitting reforms […]
California advances toward climate goals: the $39 billion budget
The Legislature and Governor Newsom recently delivered a game-changing $39 billion climate budget and an important set of new policies to propel California towards its climate goals. In this blog post – the first of a three-part series – we review the central piece to the state’s recent actions: the $39 billion climate budget. We […]
Op-ed: Maximizing the impact of a history-making federal clean energy investment program
A recent op-ed in The Hill describes a novel approach to identifying and prioritizing policy and investment actions in order to achieve ambitious climate targets. For more information, see article linked here. This op-ed was co-authored by CSG’s Director of Climate and Energy Policy, Sam Uden; Chris Greig, Theodora D. ’78 and William H. Walton […]
Missed opportunity: Draft Scoping Plan fails to address biomass pile burning and decay
California recently released a draft version of its main climate plan, finding that it is preferable to open burn or leave to decay in the forest a significant portion of biomass residues resulting from wildfire prevention treatments. This is a missed opportunity: as a robust strategy to collect and convert forest waste into carbon-negative wood […]
Could carbon dioxide removal help California meet its climate change goals?
California has established a goal to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045 or sooner, and net-negative emissions thereafter. Achieving this goal will require aggressive emissions reductions and the phase-out of fossil fuels. It is also expected that it will require some carbon dioxide removal (CDR), and the steady scale up of technologies that physically […]
Pathways to Forest Health and Carbon Neutrality in California
As part of our long-term policy design work, CSG has been exploring how California can achieve its ambitious forest health and GHG emissions reduction goals. In this blog post, we highlight findings to date from collaborations with UC Berkeley, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and others, including promising strategies for aligning the state’s forest health and […]
Lawrence Livermore Releases Landmark Report Highlighting Pathways to Achieve Carbon Neutrality in California by 2045
On January 30th, 2020, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) released a first-of-its-kind report which identifies and quantifies the negative emissions opportunities that would enable California to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045 or sooner. “Negative emissions” refers to the physical removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, such as through natural climate solutions (e.g. soil carbon […]
First Regional Conservation Investment Strategy Approved by CDFW
The first of its kind Santa Clara Regional Conservation Investment Strategy (RCIS) was approved by California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) last month. The Santa Clara RCIS covers the entirety of Santa Clara County and identifies conservation goals, priorities, and actions to protect endangered species such as the San Joaquin kit fox, Swainson’s hawk, […]