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On Monday, California Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill mandating that the state’s utilities move to 100-percent zero-emission electricity generation by 2045. Brown also issued an executive order today requiring the state to become carbon neutral by 2045, that is, mandating that the state remove as much greenhouse gas from the atmosphere as it puts into the atmosphere.
California is the most populous state to agree to such aggressive decarbonization and only the second state to formalize such a pledge in legislation, after Hawaii. Although California has phased coal plants out of its state-wide energy mix, it still relies predominantly on natural gas for the bulk of its electricity.
The bill was passed by California’s Assembly and Senate in August. The votes weren’t a sure thing: some Republicans and Democrats worried that such an ambitious goal would lead to increased energy cost for their constituents.
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