California on track to 33% renewables by 2020 and 80% reduction from 1990 carbon levels by 2050

A few days late on the post but the press release follows.

One thing that remains a bit unclear to me is the language "Gov. Schwarzenegger has also called for the state to reduce carbon emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by the year 2050"

Which I read to be very different from "to 80 percent of 1990 levels" and would be, well, A LOT of carbon reduction.

The press release:

GAAS:785:08
For Immediate Release: Contact: Aaron McLear
Monday, November 17, 2008 Lisa Page
916-445-4571
Governor Schwarzenegger Advances State’s Renewable Energy Development

Signs Executive Order to Raise California’s Renewable Energy Goals to 33 Percent by 2020, Clear Red Tape for Renewable Projects

Building on his commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing the state’s renewable energy, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today signed Executive Order S-14-08 (EO) to streamline California’s renewable energy project approval process and increase the state’s Renewable Energy Standard to 33 percent renewable power by 2020.


“I am proposing we set the most aggressive target in the nation for renewable energy—33 percent by the year 2020—that’s a third of our energy from sources like solar, wind and geothermal,” Governor Schwarzenegger said. “But we won’t meet that goal doing business as usual, where environmental regulations are holding up environmental progress in some cases. This executive order will clear the red tape for renewable projects and streamline the permitting and siting of new plants and transmission lines. With this investment in renewable energy projects, California has a bright energy future ahead that will help us fight climate change while driving our state’s green economy.”

The Governor made today’s announcement at the site of OptiSolar’s new plant in Sacramento, which will begin manufacturing solar panels in early 2009. When fully built out, the one-million-square-foot plant will be the largest photovoltaic solar panel manufacturing plant in North America, providing 1,000 green jobs and producing approximately 2,000 solar panels per day.

To solidify his promise to increase the amount of electricity California receives from renewable resources, the Governor will expand the state’s current RPS requirements to 33 percent by 2020. The Governor also will propose legislative language that will codify the new higher standards and require all utilities, public and private, to meet the 33 percent target and spread implementation costs across all ratepayers with safeguards for low-income customers. It will allow for the expansion of eligibility for California’s RPS program to renewable energy generation from other western states and reform the renewable energy market structure to spur new development while providing consumer safeguards.

The EO will advance California’s transition into a clean energy economy and directs state agencies to create comprehensive plans to prioritize regional renewable projects based on an area’s renewable resource potential and the level of protection for plant and animal habitat. To implement and track the progress of the EO, the California Energy Commission (CEC) and the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding formalizing a Renewable Energy Action Team (REAT).

To streamline the application process for renewable energy development, the CEC and DFG will create a “one-stop” permitting process with the goal of reducing the application time for specific projects in half. This will be achieved through the creation of a special joint streamlining unit that will concurrently review permit applications filed at the state level.

To jump start Natural Communities Conservation Plans (NCCPs) under the EO, the REAT will initiate the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan in the priority Mojave and Colorado Desert regions and identify other preferred areas that will benefit from a streamlined permitting and environmental review process. This will dramatically reduce the time and uncertainty normally associated with building new renewable projects.

In addition to the EO announced today, the CEC, DFG, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a coordinated approach with our federal partners in the expedited permitting process. This coordinated approach will significantly reduce the time and expense for developing renewable energy on federally-owned California land, including the priority Mojave and Colorado Desert regions.

Gov. Schwarzenegger has led California in establishing laws and policies aimed at helping to promote renewable energy and fight global warming, including:
In September 2008, Gov. Schwarzenegger signed AB 1451 by Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), AB 2466 by Assemblyman John Laird (D-Santa Cruz) and AB 2267 by Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes (D-Sylmar) to build on California’s commitment to increase renewable energy use. AB 1451 will build on the state’s solar power usage by continuing a property tax exclusion for projects that utilize solar panel energy and expanding the exclusion to builder-installed solar energy systems in new homes. AB 2267 builds on the state’s green economy by requiring the CPUC to grant incentives to eligible California-technology manufacturers. This bill also requires the Energy Commission to give priority to California-based companies when granting awards and will not only create jobs for hardworking Californians but will attract more clean-tech and green-tech companies to the state. AB 2466 will increase energy efficiency and help protect the environment by authorizing local governments to receive a utility bill credit for surplus renewable electricity generated at one site against the electricity consumption at other sites.

In 2006, the Governor announced his Million Solar Roofs Plan to provide 3,000 megawatts of additional clean energy and reduce the output of greenhouse gases by three million tons, equivalent to taking one million cars off the road. Now known as the California Solar Initiative, the $3.3 billion incentive plan for homeowners and building owners who install solar electric systems will lead to one million solar roofs in California by 2017.

Announced as a component of the California Solar Initiative in 2007, the New Solar Homes Partnership (NSHP) aims to create a self-sustaining market for solar homes and gain builder commitment to install solar energy systems. A new home that qualifies for the NSHP is at least 15 percent more efficient than the current building standards.

In September 2006, the Governor signed the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, California's landmark bill that established a first-in-the-world comprehensive program of regulatory and market mechanisms to achieve real, quantifiable, cost-effective reductions of greenhouse gases. The law will reduce carbon emissions in California to 1990 levels by the year 2020. Gov. Schwarzenegger has also called for the state to reduce carbon emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by the year 2050.

California's push to fight global warming and increase renewable energy will also boost our economy. According to an economic study by the University of California at Berkeley and Next 10, California's policies will create as many as 403,000 jobs in the next 12 years and household incomes will increase by $48 billion.