THE CALIFORNIA CLIMATE AND CLEAN ENERGY POLICY STORY

California has successfully decoupled economic growth from greenhouse gas emissions through a policy blend of performance standards and a broad cap-and-trade program. Since 2006, the state has seen a 7 percent decline in emissions while experiencing robust job growth, particularly in the green technology sector. Key achievements include significant adoption of plug-in electric vehicles, a growing renewable energy portfolio, and the influence of its building and appliance codes on other U.S. states and federal policy. The state is now shifting focus toward 2030 targets, including a 50 percent renewable portfolio standard and a goal to reduce economy-wide emissions by 40 percent below 1990 levels.

• California has decoupled economic growth from greenhouse gas emissions; since 2000, per capita emissions decreased by 15 percent and emissions per unit of GDP fell by 23 percent.
• The state's climate strategy relies on a combination of performance standards and a cap-and-trade program, with approximately 80 percent of emissions reductions expected from standards and complementary policies.
• 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.
• California's clean energy progress is marked by a 25 percent renewable electricity achievement by large investor-owned utilities by 2014 (excluding large hydro and rooftop solar) and the purchase of over 146,000 plug-in electric vehicles between March 2011 and July 2015.
• The state's climate policies have supported economic growth, with California jobs growing by 14.4 percent since the recession ended, compared to 9.8 percent nationally, and the creation of approximately 500,000 green jobs.
• California's policy innovations have had significant spillovers; 43 states and Washington, D.C. adopted building energy requirements following California's 1978 lead, and 13 of its appliance standards were adopted federally.
• New targets for 2030 include a goal to reduce economy-wide emissions by 40 percent below 1990 levels and a 50 percent renewable portfolio standard (RPS) as established by SB 350.

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

{{cite report |last1=BUSCH |first1=CHRIS |last2=HARVEY |first2=HAL |last3=PIKE |first3=LILI |title=THE CALIFORNIA CLIMATE AND CLEAN ENERGY POLICY STORY |publisher=Energy Innovation |date=December 2015 |url=https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/CA_LowCarbonStory.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

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} }