California Climate Investments has funded $9 billion in projects to reduce greenhouse gases
25 August 2021
California Climate Investments—a program designed to put billions of dollars to work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions—is funded with proceeds from the State’s Cap-and-Trade GHG emissions reduction program and is administered by the California Air Resources Board (ARB). Since 2013, the California Legislature has appropriated $15.4 billion in California Climate Investments funds for projects statewide, $9 billion of which are either underway or completed.
Approximately $4.5 billion of all implemented funds directly benefit California’s priority populations, which include disadvantaged and low-income communities and low-income households statewide.
California Climate Investments will provide about 70 million metric tons of GHG emissions reductions, the equivalent of taking 14 million cars off the road for a year. This does not include expected GHG emissions reductions attributable to the High-Speed Rail project.
More than 20 state agencies manage investments in more than 70 programs. New investments since December 2020 total 53,800 projects, including 51,000 rebates for the purchase of zero-emission vehicles and 697 affordable housing units.
Background. California Climate Investments began in 2013 and received guidance specifically for disadvantaged communities from the Legislature through Senate Bill (SB) 535 (2012). It set minimum investments for projects that benefit disadvantaged and low-income communities and projects that are located within disadvantaged communities.
In 2016, AB 1550 (2016) amended the investment minimums for disadvantaged communities created by SB 535 to require that a minimum percentage of projects be located within and provide a benefit to disadvantaged communities. AB 1550 also established new investment minimums for low-income communities and low-income households. To date, California Climate Investments is meeting and exceeding these minimum levels while providing more than a half-million projects in communities statewide.
California’s cap-and-trade program has raised $15.8 billion dollars since compliance began in 2013. The program requires an annual 4% reduction in GHG emissions from the state’s major electricity generators and industrial emitters of GHGs. These reductions apply to California’s 2030 goal of reducing GHGs 40% below 1990 levels by 2030.
The California Air Resources Board has released the 2021 California Climate Investments Mid-Year Data Update, which describes the progress of the program over time and provides highlights from the past six months. It includes estimates of GHG emission reductions and other project benefits.
The California Air Resources Board will also release an updated interactive map including each implemented project in the state. The map includes filters for programs, counties, or legislative districts, and displays additional project-level information for each investment. Additionally, the California Air Resources Board has released an update to the interactive data dashboard, which enables users to easily explore California Climate Investments data.
The 2021 California Climate Investments Mid-Year Data Update materials, map, data dashboard, and project list provide project data as of May 31, 2021, and are available at California Climate Investments.
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Posted by: SJC | 25 August 2021 at 08:48 AM