Assembly Bill 32 (AB 32, 2006) calls for a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in California to 1990 levels by 2020. All we have to do to fix the problem is to determine emissions goals for cars and light-duty trucks and give the automaker their marching orders, right? Well, no. There's a much better solution.
If we continue to assume that people will keep driving cars, and that the population is expected to increase, the carmakers alone are not going to be able to solve the problem.
What about changing the existing assumptions? What if people didn’t have to drive as far? What if a lot more people used public transportation? Could a new approach like this, combined with more traditional efforts, reduce ghg's even in the face of a population increase?
Enter Senate Bill 375 (SB 375, 2008), which requires a reduction of ghg’s to 1990 levels from new land development or redevelopment projects. It also called for the creation of a technical advisory committee to advise the California Air Resource Board (CARB) on how to reach the 2020 goal.
So where does this committee come from? Who has the knowledge to make such a comprehensive ten-year plan? Twenty-one professionals have volunteered their time and talents to make this happen. For the most part, they fall into two groups: organizations whose goal is to reduce emissions and organizations who want their cities and counties to thrive. While these goals may seem to be at odds, the job of the Regional Targets Advisory Committee (RTAC) is to make a plan to do both at the same time.
Who are the representatives of California residents and businesses? Ten committee members are involved in local government and city planning, five are involved in public transportation, five are from organizations that support environmental issues, and one from a California new home builder. They hail from all over the state - big cities and rural areas as well as colleges and non-profits.
The committee must submit its report to the California Air Resources Board at the end of September. In the next two months, they will put together recommendations of actions and measurements that will enable each region to meet the required goals, taking into consideration the capabilities of each entity and current and projected economic factors. No small feat.
When they’re done, they’ll have accomplished something that could not have been done without a huge long-term commitment from a wide variety of organizations. This is the only kind of effort that can possibly make a significant dent in greenhouse gasses in California.
