THE CALIFORNIA CLIMATE AND CLEAN ENERGY POLICY STORY

This report by Energy Innovation describes California's climate and clean energy policy framework, highlighting the state's success in decoupling economic growth from greenhouse gas emissions. It details the combination of performance standards and a cap-and-trade program, the resulting growth in green jobs and clean technology, and the state's influence on federal and other state-level policies.

• California has successfully decoupled economic growth from greenhouse gas emissions. Since 2000, the state has seen a 15 percent reduction in per capita emissions and a 23 percent decrease in emissions per unit of GDP, while the economy continued to grow.
• The state's climate strategy relies on a combination of a broad carbon price via a cap-and-trade program and performance standards. Approximately 80 percent of emissions reductions are expected to come from performance standards and complementary policies, such as targeted incentives and financing support.
• Assembly Bill 32 (AB 32), passed in 2006, established the first economy-wide greenhouse gas limit in the Western Hemisphere, requiring emissions to return to 1990 levels by 2020. Between 2007 and 2013, emissions fell by 7 percent following the adoption of this law.
• California has seen significant growth in clean energy and transportation. By 2014, large investor-owned utilities reached 25 percent renewable electricity (excluding rooftop solar and large hydro). Between March 2011 and July 2015, the state saw over 146,000 plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) purchases, representing roughly 15 percent of global sales.
• The transition to a clean energy economy has provided an economic boost, with the state supporting approximately 500,000 green jobs. About 24 percent of these are in manufacturing. Since the end of the recession, California's job growth (14.4 percent) has outpaced the national average (9.8 percent).
• California's policies have created significant 'spillovers' affecting other jurisdictions. Its 1978 building code energy requirements were followed by 43 other states and Washington, D.C. Additionally, California's appliance and lighting standards inspired federal programs, and its tailpipe GHG standards laid the foundation for federal standards under the first Obama administration.
• Recent policy updates focus on 2030 targets, including a goal set by Governor Jerry Brown to reduce economy-wide emissions by 40 percent below 1990 levels. Senate Bill 350, signed in October 2015, sets a 50 percent renewable portfolio standard (RPS) by 2030.

APA

BUSCH, C., HARVEY, H., & PIKE, L. (2015). THE CALIFORNIA CLIMATE AND CLEAN ENERGY POLICY STORY. Energy Innovation. https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/CA_LowCarbonStory.pdf

Chicago

BUSCH, CHRIS, HAL HARVEY, and LILI PIKE. THE CALIFORNIA CLIMATE AND CLEAN ENERGY POLICY STORY. Energy Innovation, 2015. https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/CA_LowCarbonStory.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{busch2015california, author = {BUSCH, CHRIS and HARVEY, HAL and PIKE, LILI}, title = {{THE CALIFORNIA CLIMATE AND CLEAN ENERGY POLICY STORY}}, institution = {Energy Innovation}, year = {2015}, month = dec, url = {https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/CA_LowCarbonStory.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }