TARGET 2030: TOP FOUR CLIMATE POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CALIFORNIA

This policy brief by Energy Innovation outlines four primary recommendations to ensure California's emissions trajectory aligns with its 2050 carbon goals. The recommendations focus on establishing a 2030 statewide carbon cap, decarbonizing the electricity sector, expanding transportation sector policies, and setting performance standards for methane emissions.

• Energy Innovation recommends establishing a 2030 statewide carbon cap set at 40 percent below 1990 emissions levels, utilizing the state's cap-and-trade program as a backstop for sectoral policies to maintain market flexibility and cost containment.
• To decarbonize the electricity sector by 2030, the brief proposes a carbon standard that is either mass-based (48.9 million metric tons of CO2e) or intensity-based (393 pounds of CO2e per megawatt-hour), supported by a 50 percent renewable energy target including publicly-owned utilities.
• The brief suggests reforming electricity demand by replacing current energy efficiency incentives with a kilowatt-hour per capita standard, targeting a 1.2 percent annual reduction in per capita electricity sales for each utility.
• Transportation recommendations include extending Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) targets through 2030, increasing the ambition of Zero Emission Vehicle mandates and light-duty tailpipe standards, and introducing heavy-duty vehicle tailpipe standards for 2018-2025.
• The document advises California to set a global benchmark for methane emissions through performance standards, monitoring, and enforcement, specifically targeting methane leakage in oil and gas operations using technologies like mobile air sampling devices.

APA

BUSCH, C., HARVEY, H., AGGARWAL, S., GIMON, E., ORVIS, R., & O’BOYLE, M. (2015). TARGET 2030: TOP FOUR CLIMATE POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CALIFORNIA. Energy Innovation. https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/Top4CA_FINAL.pdf

Chicago

BUSCH, CHRIS, HAL HARVEY, SONIA AGGARWAL, ERIC GIMON, ROBBIE ORVIS, and MICHAEL O’BOYLE. TARGET 2030: TOP FOUR CLIMATE POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CALIFORNIA. Energy Innovation, 2015. https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/Top4CA_FINAL.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{busch2015target, author = {BUSCH, CHRIS and HARVEY, HAL and AGGARWAL, SONIA and GIMON, ERIC and ORVIS, ROBBIE and O’BOYLE, MICHAEL}, title = {{TARGET 2030: TOP FOUR CLIMATE POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CALIFORNIA}}, institution = {Energy Innovation}, year = {2015}, month = mar, url = {https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/Top4CA_FINAL.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }