A Mandate for California to Attain Full Decarbonization

Photo taken during the day under natural lighting conditions.

Getty Images/iStockphoto

Photo taken during the day under natural lighting conditions.

At COP26 in Glasgow, nations from all around the globe will deliberate how and where to handle the planet’s catastrophic climate change. Five hundred thirty-seven legislators from 47 state and territory governments have signed a letter to the President, Joe Biden, strongly encouraging him to increase the federal government’s ambition and improve climate adaptation pledges in the Paris Agreement. The moment for intervention is now. The United States has a theoretical and ethical obligation to achieve net-zero emissions by or before 2050, as the most significant historical contribution to greenhouse gas emissions.

In California, the consequences of climate change may be seen directly. Hurricanes and wildfires, droughts and floods, warmer temperatures causing heat waves, and cold snaps have caused significant devastation this year.
Wildfires are a year-round hazard in California, worsened by climatic, environmental consequences. We’re in the midst of a new drought crisis this year that will further heighten the risk of wildfires. As a coastal region, California has already been feeling the effects of rising sea levels and acidity, which are leading to coastal erosion and the demolition of California’s bull kelp forests, a keystone species that has plummeted by much more than 95 percent in certain areas. Intense temperatures, flooding, landslides, erosion, and droughts are climate-related problems that California towns, rural regions, agricultural fields, forestry, and other locations experience.

Everyone depends on carbon fuels, and methane release has long been recognized as a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to the climate problem. However, the world is also confronted with a slew of other pollutants that is a result of their activities: omnipresent plastics and microplastic particles amass in our ecology, and oil spills, as happened in Orange County on Oct. 2, cause devastation.

It is essential in this year’s budget, California made record expenditures to combat climate change. The expense consisted of billions for a climatological sustainability package, including funding to strategize for regional adaptive capacity investment opportunities. It concluded tree planting to decrease intense temperatures and reduce air pollution, build resilient and productive populations, identify rising sea levels, and assist the condition in meeting its goal of conserving at least 30% of its property and coastal areas by 2030.

It will keep growing in intensity and damage caused by climate change. The deposit is more than $4 billion toward drought relief and water fortitude, including money for water recycling, groundwater resources administration, and eliminating contaminants from our rivers and drinkable water. A $1.5 billion commitment in fire management and forestry preservation was even included in the budget to safeguard towns and wilderness from the prospect of disastrous fires.

California isn’t the only state that is choosing to respond. States around the nation were in the vanguard of climate change action while also resolving structural disparities and constructing a new sustainable energy economy. While governmental action is critical, everyone cannot do this individually. States look on the national government to provide a solid foundation for climate action. The courageous actions can also serve as a model for government action.

Over two-thirds of states have had some Renewable Portfolio Standard or Clean Energy Standard, and far more than a handful have pledged to 100% sustainable energy. To increase carbon sequestration, states switch fleets to zero-emission cars, make structures more powerful, and safeguard beautiful environments.

There is an increase in desire and passion for the environment in every negotiating meeting. The United States government, like our states, must set an example by committing to and accomplishing comprehensive decarbonization.