Wildfire Awareness - Fueling California

DID YOU KNOW:

16 YEARS of carbon reduction in California was completely erased by the 2020 wildfires

Wildfire Emissions vs Clean Energy Goals

California has invested years in implementing regulations and policies to reduce the most populated state’s carbon emissions.
The CA government has also set a climate plan roadmap to achieve NET ZERO carbon pollution by 2045.
With the current existing regulations on the fuels and energy industry, California has seen a 21.7% decrease in greenhouse gas emissions from 2000 to 2022.
But, the forces of nature cannot be regulated.
Seeing how California’s wildfires can negate the state’s carbon reduction progress, we must ask:

How well can California’s energy goals hold up to the effects of wildfire emissions?

The 2020 wildfires released about twice the amount of California’s total emission cuts from 2003 to 2019.

– Environmental Pollution, 2022

Citations

Bloomberg. (2022, December 8). Wildfire smoke can slash California solar power output by nearly a third. The Mercury News; The Mercury News. https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/12/08/wildfire-smoke-can-slash-california-solar-power-output-by-nearly-a-third/?utm_source=CalMatters+Newsletters&utm_campaign=d205b91afe-WHATMATTERS&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_faa7be558d-d205b91afe-151776683&mc_cid=d205b91afe&mc_eid=808e3830b1

Office of Governor. (2022, November 16). California Releases World’s First Plan to Achieve Net Zero Carbon Pollution – California Governor. California Governor. https://www.gov.ca.gov/2022/11/16/california-releases-worlds-first-plan-to-achieve-net-zero-carbon-pollution/

Michael Jerrett, Amir S. Jina, Miriam E. Marlier, Up in smoke: California’s greenhouse gas reductions could be wiped out by 2020 wildfires, Environmental Pollution, Volume 310, 2022, 119888, ISSN 0269-7491, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2022.119888.
(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749122011022)

California Energy Commission. (2022, October 26). California Greenhouse Gas Emissions for 2000 to 2020 . California Energy Commission. https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/classic/cc/inventory/2000-2020_ghg_inventory_trends.pdf