The bill that Governor Jerry Brown signed into law, SB 100, requires the state to reach 100 percent clean electricity in less than 30 years, with interim goals along the way, including 60 percent by 2030. Yet, Governor Brown took an even bolder step, not only signing the legislation but also issuing an executive order calling on the entire economy to become carbon neutral by 2045, not just utilities generating electricity. Electricity only makes up about 40 percent of California’s greenhouse gas emissions, so the executive order would target a whole host of other sectors, including building, heating, industry, not to mention transportation. It’s astounding in its ambition, and there are plenty of reasons to be skeptical, including the lack of a detailed plan and the fact that as an executive order it is vulnerable to change from future governors. Still, taken together, the SB 100 legislation and the […]