Learning From California’s Ambitious Climate Policy
By Aimee Barnes, Ashley Conrad-Saydah, Hannah Argento-McCurdy, Angela Luh, and Matthew Gobin
April 16, 2021, 5:00 am Getty/Manny Crisostomo
The Carquinez Bridge looms in the background of the playground area of the Ninth Street Park and Boat Launch in Benicia, California, on February 11, 2014.
Sam Hananel
Ari Drennen
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California has long been synonymous with effective climate policy. Beginning in 2001, the Golden State established its first voluntary emissions reporting program under Gov. Gray Davis (D). Subsequently, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) built on this initial commitment to reducing emissions when the state passed the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 its landmark climate legislation.
DeSmog
The House Oversight Committee, which last week heard testimony on the oil industry’s efforts to suppress climate science, continued to probe the industry’s deception and influence with a hearing on the Trump administration’s proposed rollbacks of clean car standards rollbacks that stand to benefit Big Oil at the expense of consumers and the environment.
At Tuesday’s hearing of the Oversight Committee’s Environment subcommittee, the oil industry’s importance in affecting the weaker standards for vehicle fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions was front and center as Republicans led an ultimately unsuccessful effort to adjourn the hearing before witness testimony even began.
Revamping Federal Climate Science
December 15, 2020, 5:00 am Getty/Liu Shiping/Xinhua
Sam Hananel
Ari Drennen
Introduction and summary
The United States has been the global leader in climate science for decades. Unfortunately, progress has slowed and in some cases, even moved backward over the past four years, with the Trump administration dismantling core elements of the federal climate science apparatus. As the country and the planet head toward an increasingly unstable climate, the U.S. government needs to get back to the business of being the preeminent source of trusted applied science that supports climate change mitigation and adaptation decision-making of governments and civilian stakeholders.