California as a Leader in Energy Efficiency Measures

Source: The Flex Your Power e-mail newsletter (Jan. 14, 2009 / #636) Story "California Approves New Emissions Reduction Plan." CARB - the California Air Resource Board has just approved new energy policy measures to make California's global warming initiative the most aggressive in the nation. "The central component of the plan is a cap-and-trade program covering 85 percent of the state’s emissions, which will be developed in conjunction with the Western Climate Initiative." According to CARB, they are taking these multiple steps to ensure that California remains in the lead in implementing energy efficient economization strategies. They hope to meet the goals using a diversified plan which affects air, rail and even water.

"Additional key recommendations of the plan include strategies to enhance and expand proven cost-saving energy efficiency programs; implementation of California’s clean cars standards; increases in the amount of clean and renewable energy used to power the state; and implementation of a low-carbon fuel standard that will make the fuels used in the state cleaner.
The plan proposes full deployment of the California Solar Initiative, high-speed rail, water-related energy efficiency measures and a range of regulations to reduce emissions from trucks and from ships docked in California ports. There are also measures designed to safely reduce or recover a range of very potent greenhouse gases - refrigerants and other industrial gases - that contribute to global warming at a level many times greater than carbon dioxide."