{"id":7320,"date":"2014-06-02T10:11:37","date_gmt":"2014-06-02T15:11:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/?p=7320"},"modified":"2014-12-29T10:36:13","modified_gmt":"2014-12-29T16:36:13","slug":"epa-hands-over-the-keys-with-clean-power-plan-california-already-on-cruise-control","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2014\/06\/02\/epa-hands-over-the-keys-with-clean-power-plan-california-already-on-cruise-control\/","title":{"rendered":"EPA Hands Over the Keys with Clean Power Plan, California Already on Cruise Control"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"epa\"<\/a>EPA\u2019s Clean Power Plan,\u00a0proposed today<\/a>, is a roadmap for cutting dangerous pollution from power plants, and as with any map, there are many roads to follow. For this journey, states are in the driver\u2019s seat and can steer themselves in the direction most beneficial to their people and to the state\u2019s economy, as long as they show EPA they are staying on the map and ultimately reaching the final destination.<\/p>\n

As\u00a0usual<\/a>, California got off to a head start, explored the territory, blazed a lot of new trails, and left a number of clues on how states can transition to a lower carbon future, and California\u2019s successes are one proven, potential model for other states to follow. The state\u2019s legacy of clean energy and energy efficiency progress is a big reason the White House and EPA could roll out the most significant national climate change action in U.S. history.<\/p>\n

Way back in the mid-1970s, when Governor Jerry Brown did his first tour of duty, California pioneered what remains one of the most effective tools for cutting pollution and saving money: energy efficiency. The state\u2019s efficiency standards, largely aimed at buildings and appliances, have saved Californians\u00a0$74 billion<\/a>\u00a0and avoided the construction of more than\u00a030 power plants<\/a>. All those energy savings have translated into California residential electricity bills that are\u00a025% lower than the national average.\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0What\u2019s more, California produces twice as much economic output per kilowatt hour of electricity usage as the national average.<\/p>\n

While energy efficiency has done yeoman\u2019s work pulling costs down, reducing the need for dirty energy, and supercharging the state\u2019s clean energy economy, California has also brought bold approaches to cleaning up its power supply. The\u00a0California Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS)<\/a>\u00a0requires 33% of all electricity sold in California to come from renewable sources by 2020, the\u00a0most aggressive<\/a>\u00a0of the 29 states with RPS measures on the books.<\/p>\n

In 2006, California enacted\u00a0Senate Bill 1368<\/a>, a groundbreaking law that set the nation\u2019s first greenhouse gas emissions standard for power plants, a forerunner of EPA\u2019s Clean Power Plan announced today. The same year, the Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32<\/a>) instituted a statewide limit on greenhouse gas emissions, requiring California to return to 1990 levels by 2020. Power plants are capped under AB 32\u2019s successful cap-and-trade program, another precedent that set the table for EPA\u2019s Clean Power Plan, which establishes a national limit on power plant pollution for the first time. This robust suite of policies resulted in California cutting carbon pollution from in-state and imported electricity\u00a0by 16%<\/a>\u00a0between 2005 and 2010-2012.<\/p>\n

Given this track record, it\u2019s no surprise that Californians strongly support pollution limits on power plants. According to the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC)\u00a02013 survey<\/a>, 76% of Californians support \u201cstricter emissions limits on power plants,\u201d and 65% of survey respondents say that California should act immediately to cut emissions and not wait for the economy to improve, a record-high level of support. The survey also shows that Californians believe the economy will improve because of strong environmental regulations, and that you don\u2019t have to have one or the other. Data corroborating this view continues to pile up: the state now has its\u00a0lowest unemployment rate since 2008<\/a>\u00a0even with increasingly stringent environmental policies.<\/p>\n

California is proof positive that states can fashion creative policies that improve their environmental and economic bottom line, and that\u2019s exactly what will be needed to make EPA\u2019s Clean Power Plan a durable and resounding success. California\u2019s roadmap includes a variety of alternative routes, giving other states a chance to adopt or adapt them to meet the needs of their own unique journeys toward a healthier future.<\/p>\n

This commentary originally appeared on our California Dream 2.0 blog<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EPA\u2019s Clean Power Plan,\u00a0proposed today, is a roadmap for cutting dangerous pollution from power plants, and as with any map, there are many roads to follow. For this journey, states are in the driver\u2019s seat and can steer themselves in the direction most beneficial to their people and to the state\u2019s economy, as long as …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2615,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8015,200,325,42996,55725,254,177],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-7320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-air-quality","category-california","category-cap-and-trade","category-smart-power","category-clean-power-plan","category-energy-efficiency","category-renewable-energy"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEPA Hands Over the Keys with Clean Power Plan, California Already on Cruise Control - Energy Exchange<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2014\/06\/02\/epa-hands-over-the-keys-with-clean-power-plan-california-already-on-cruise-control\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"EPA Hands Over the Keys with Clean Power Plan, California Already on Cruise Control - Energy Exchange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"EPA\u2019s Clean Power Plan,\u00a0proposed today, is a roadmap for cutting dangerous pollution from power plants, and as with any map, there are many roads to follow. 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