Unpacking today's great news on California's GHG progress in a brief thread: arb.ca.gov/cc/inventory/data…
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The headline you're probably hearing is accurate. CA has officially met its 2020 target early, returning GHGs to 1990 levels by 2016. This is legitimately cause for (brief) celebration. I'll pause a moment to let you bask in the warm glow. 2/
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O.k. that's enough of that. Hope you enjoyed the basking, we've got work to do. How we got here: Mainly by decarbonizing the electricity sector. Wind and solar costs declined rapidly, which allowed utilities opportunity to begin transition to renewables at bargain prices 3/
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We are clearly not *done* with the electrical sector, but clearly *are* on the right trajectory. Energy efficiency and demand response will continue to play a massive role in helping accommodate more renewables. Cheap batteries will allow even deeper penetration of variable RE 4/
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A 100% zero-emitting grid is very likely achievable without assuming further developments in technology. A 90-95% zero-emitting grid certainly is. Cheap zero-emitting dispatchable generation (nuclear?) or seasonal energy storage is the last piece to hit 100% 5/
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On the industrial side, the next decade is going to be all about reducing high-GWP gases, like methane and HFCs. We may be reaching the end of the lowest-hanging fruit from an efficiency side (i.e. stuff that pays back in very short time period) but still lots of opportunity. 6/
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Replying to @scianalysis
I'd like to see GHG emission stats that attribute industrial production to the place goods are consumed rather than the place they're produced. Would such numbers still show California hitting targets? Or are we hitting the targets because industry is moving to China, etc.?

Jul 15, 2018 · 11:38 PM UTC

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Replying to @davidbaron
For one thing, if we were really just exporting industry and the associated GHG reductions, what explains the fact that CA's has faster GDP growth and job creation than U.S. or average industrialized economy over last decade?
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I haven't seen any evidence that there has been a systematic shift of production out of CA. Industries which are energy-intensive and exposed to international trade are basically exempted from the cap-and-trade program (see: Industrial assistance provisions).
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