Carbon-Free Prosperity in California: Policies for Success

The briefing outlines a strategic policy framework for California to maintain its climate leadership and reach its 2050 emissions targets. It emphasizes the need for a 2030 carbon cap to provide investment certainty and recommends specific reforms: transitioning utilities to performance-based regulation, implementing energy labels for existing buildings, enhancing the Low Carbon Fuel Standard, and establishing 'gold standard' methane emissions regulations. The authors also advocate for regional cooperation with other U.S. states and technical collaboration with China to scale clean energy technologies globally.

• To reach the 2050 goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent below 1990 levels, California needs to establish a 2030 carbon cap to provide the policy certainty required for long-term investments.
• In the electricity sector, the state should move away from cost-of-service regulation toward a performance-based model that aligns utility incentives with long-term carbon reduction goals and creates markets for flexible resources, such as demand-side resources and storage.
• Building emissions should be addressed by implementing energy performance labels for homes at the time of sale to improve market valuation of efficiency, alongside the goal of making Zero Net Energy the standard for all new homes by 2020 and commercial buildings by 2030.
• Transportation goals require enhancing the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) with a cost-containment mechanism and a price floor for fuel providers, while using carbon auction revenues to fund public transit contingent on the adoption of smart growth policies.
• While SB 4 regulates fracking, it does not cover methane; California should establish a 'gold standard' for methane emissions across the oil and gas lifecycle, utilizing new detection technologies like infrared cameras.
• California's climate success depends on external cooperation, specifically through coordinated carbon pricing with Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia, and providing technical assistance to China on air pollution and emissions trading.

APA

Harvey, H., & Busch, C. (2014). Carbon-Free Prosperity in California: Policies for Success. Energy Innovation. https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/Carbon-Free-Prosperity-in-California.pdf

Chicago

Harvey, Hal, and Chris Busch. Carbon-Free Prosperity in California: Policies for Success. Energy Innovation, 2014. https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/Carbon-Free-Prosperity-in-California.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Harvey |first1=Hal |last2=Busch |first2=Chris |title=Carbon-Free Prosperity in California: Policies for Success |publisher=Energy Innovation |date=February 2014 |url=https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/Carbon-Free-Prosperity-in-California.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{harvey2014carbonfree, author = {Harvey, Hal and Busch, Chris}, title = {{Carbon-Free Prosperity in California: Policies for Success}}, institution = {Energy Innovation}, year = {2014}, month = feb, url = {https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/Carbon-Free-Prosperity-in-California.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }