Just when you thought Calif. coulden't do anything else to destroy more jobs. (home, construction)

[V8 Vega]

California Gov. Jerry Brown issued an executive order Wednesday committing California to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030.

The new target is the most aggressive enacted by any government in North America to reduce dangerous carbon emissions over the next decade and a half. Brown’s executive order aligns California’s greenhouse gas reduction target with Europe ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris later this year.

“With this order, California sets a very high bar for itself and other states and nations, but it’s one that must be reached — for this generation and generations to come,” Brown said.

The state is on track to meet or exceed the current target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions back to 1990 levels by 2020, as established in the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. The target of 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 will make it possible to reach the ultimate goal of reducing emissions 80 percent under 1990 levels by 2050.

The targets are in line with scientifically established levels needed in the U.S. to limit global warming below 2 degrees Celsius — the warming threshold at which scientists say there will likely be major climate disruptions such as super droughts and rising sea levels.

California’s action was quickly welcomed by the international community. (Emphasis mine - JG)

“Four consecutive years of exceptional drought has brought home the harsh reality of rising global temperatures to the communities and businesses of California,” said World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim. “There can be no substitute for aggressive national targets to reduce harmful greenhouse emissions, but the decision today by Governor Brown to set a 40 percent reduction target for 2030 is an example of climate leadership that others must follow.”

Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said,“California’s 2030 goal to reduce carbon emissions is not only bold, it’s necessary — for the economy and our future.”

The executive order directs state government to factor climate change into state agencies’ planning and investment decisions and implement measures under existing agency and departmental authority to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

[bigdumbgod]

Destroying jobs? How about replacing the old polluting ones with those that seek to undo the destruction the old ones have wrought? You know, like learn something new?

[MtnSurfer]

Well, I think California is setting a high bar and needs to considering the number of vehicles on the road when compared to any other state. Though ambitious, it does not look like an impossible task given the progress toward 2020 goals.

Whether this kills more jobs than it creates is another question entirely. Tesla and other companies will be growing and advancing research to meet demands for cleaner fuels. Minimizing and even halting the cutting down of California redwoods in NorCal killed jobs also. Placing restrictions on over fishing kills some jobs as well. But these weren't necessarily bad things in light of the bigger picture.

[shooting4life]

Originally Posted by bigdumbgod

Destroying jobs? How about replacing the old polluting ones with those that seek to undo the destruction the old ones have wrought? You know, like learn something new?

So when are we invading China to prevent the pollution if it is such a huge issue?

Just what we need, more government funded donations to the upper class in the way of "green" jobs and products that are subsidized by tax dollars taken from the middle class.

[bigdumbgod]

Originally Posted by shooting4life

So when are we invading China to prevent the pollution if it is such a huge issue?

Just what we need, more government funded donations to the upper class in the way of "green" jobs and products that are subsidized by tax dollars taken from the middle class.

The middle class, as all, benefit from reducing our practices that destroy our environment. No paycheck matters if one can't breathe the air or drink the water.

But if you have a burning desire to invade China for some reason, have a go at it. Meanwhile, we will clean up our act at home.

[LoriBee62]

You mean just like Edison and his newfangled electricity destroyed all those ice cart driver and oil lamp filler jobs? Yeah, I don't think the economy ever recovered from that one.

[cheaptimes]

cali es only good for on thing
da weather

[MtnSurfer]

Originally Posted by shooting4life

So when are we invading China to prevent the pollution if it is such a huge issue?

Just what we need, more government funded donations to the upper class in the way of "green" jobs and products that are subsidized by tax dollars taken from the middle class.

This honestly seems more like common forum hyperbole than anything. Where will all these jobs be lost anyway? So far the governor has been riding the rail between working toward a cleaner environment while still continuing to support fossil fuel efforts including fracking. While the latter has many environmentalists as well as water conservationists up in arms he hasn't changed his position there yet. So I don't think 'all these jobs being lost' is necessarily a foregone conclusion from cleaner emission laws. This is especially true if looking at the net results. Sure, some old jobs will go away. But isn't that the nature of progress in many industries including automation of processes in manufacturing which were once done all by hand? Yes, robots replaced line workers in many factories. Is that a bad thing? Should we instead go back in time just to get the old factory worker jobs back?

Lastly, green jobs are not those of only the elite, upper class. That statement is just plain silly. Rather, jobs in clean energy development include middle class as well. The difference is they have been educated and trained in relevant technologies. Here are just a few examples:

Solar Power Installer
Energy Efficiency Builder
Wind Energy Developers and Construction Professionals
Conservation Biologist
Urban Planner
Environmental Engineer
Hydrologist
Water Quality Technicians
Clean Car Engineers
Biofuels Plant Jobs
Pollution Control Technician
Utility Company worker
Work for traditional big oil companies exploring alternative energy

Even Big Oil companies like Chevron realize it's time they do more than simply the same old thing, stuck in the past, resting on their laurels. Take a look at their own website stating this in their goals: It's Time Oil Companies Get Behind the Development of Renewable Energy | We Agree | Chevron

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by MtnSurfer

Well, I think California is setting a high bar and needs to considering the number of vehicles on the road when compared to any other state. Though ambitious, it does not look like an impossible task given the progress toward 2020 goals.

Whether this kills more jobs than it creates is another question entirely. Tesla and other companies will be growing and advancing research to meet demands for cleaner fuels. Minimizing and even halting the cutting down of California redwoods in NorCal killed jobs also. Placing restrictions on over fishing kills some jobs as well. But these weren't necessarily bad things in light of the bigger picture.

Yup. I don't know about California, but it's been documented in the NW that the salmon fishery had become like a modern-day gold rush, with so many people getting in the game, more every year, that they were killing the goose that laid the golden egg. Cutting back on that didn't "destroy jobs". Think about it: what were all those people doing before they decided to quit their jobs and become seasonal fishermen? It was a bubble that would have burst on its own, eventually. And other jobs were created, by conserving the salmon resource; aquaculture jobs, resource monitoring, reporting, and analyst jobs, and a secondary job economy of environmental monitoring, to maintain the totality of the environment used by salmon, including maintenance of buffer zones around spawning streams.

Back when the federal gov't mandated higher fuel efficiency, the industry said it couldn't be done. But quietly, some US auto manufacturers came up with a design that gets 35 mi./gallon. Did you all know that? Dodge came out about 15 or 20 years ago with cars (not hybrids) that get 35 kind of mileage, but for some reason they didn't advertise it. Maybe they do now, I haven't heard. People always kick up a fuss when some new threshold is set, but meeting it turns out to be easy. It's a lot of fuss about nothing. Resistance to change, nothing more.

[eureka1]

Just another excuse to ***** about Jerry.