FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 22, 2022
Contact: Brandon Dawson, brandon.dawson@sierraclub.org
Governor Newsom Releases Letter on State’s Climate Goals and 2022 CARB Scoping Plan
Sacramento, CA - Today, Governor Newsom sent a letter to the California Air Resources Board (CARB) announcing a slew of climate directions and goals across many agencies, including new guidance for CARB’s Scoping Plan. In the letter, Newsom told CARB that the state needs to “up our game” on climate action, set a path to meet our 2030 climate goal, and update the Scoping Plan accordingly.
The Scoping Plan, mandated by Assembly Bill 32 (Nunez, 2006), lays out California’s strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions across every sector, and is updated every five years. The 2022 Scoping Plan must be finalized and approved by CARB by the end of this year.
Unfortunately, the draft 2022 Scoping Plan requires little to no immediate action to reduce climate pollution, and even worse, relies on expensive and unproven technology to meet its emission reduction targets. The path laid out in the draft Scoping Plan would have perpetuated fossil fuel production and continued to harm California’s communities and ecosystems.
In his letter, the Governor laid out a number of key climate priorities, including expanding deployment of offshore wind, equitably decarbonizing California homes and buildings, and looking towards a reliable electricity grid that does not include new, polluting methane gas plants.
Statement from Brandon Dawson, Director of Sierra Club California:
“CARB must take seriously Governor Newsom’s imperative to “up our game” on climate action, and develop a final Scoping Plan that achieves the goals laid out by the environmental justice community and other advocacy groups like Sierra Club California.
"The Plan must prioritize direct emission reductions without overreliance on carbon capture and sequestration and direct air capture, achieve zero emissions in the electric sector by 2035, phase out fossil fuel extraction by 2035 and refining by 2045, achieve 100% zero emission heavy duty vehicle sales by 2035, and phase out new gas appliances by 2030. We’ll be working alongside our environmental justice partners to ensure the final plan aligns with these priorities.”
Sierra Club California is the legislative and regulatory arm of Sierra Club’s 13 local chapters in California, representing half a million members and supporters.