Bill Text: CA SR125 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Enrolled

California Senate Resolution 125 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Relative to Super Pollutant Reduction Week

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-0)

Status: (Passed) 2018-08-30 - Read. Adopted. (Ayes 35. Noes 0. Page 6035.) [SR125 Detail]

Download: California-2017-SR125-Enrolled.html

Enrolled September 06, 2018

Passed IN Senate August 30, 2018

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Resolution

No. 125

Introduced by Senators Lara, Allen, Jackson, Skinner, Stern, Wieckowski, and Wiener

August 28, 2018

Relative to Super Pollutant Reduction Week

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SR 125, Lara.

WHEREAS, The short-lived climate pollutants methane, hydrofluorocarbons and other fluorinated gases (F-gases), and black carbon are known as powerful super pollutants with tens to thousands of times more global warming potential than carbon dioxide; and

WHEREAS, Super pollutants contribute about 40 percent to the current anthropogenic global radiative forcing; and

WHEREAS, Reducing super pollutant emissions can immediately mitigate climate change and improve the public health; and

WHEREAS, In the past several years, California and the international community have enacted laws and implemented policies to reduce super pollutant emissions; and

WHEREAS, In 2014, with the passage of Senate Bill 605, California initiated development of a statewide super pollutant emissions reduction strategy; and

WHEREAS, In 2015, the European Union and Japan began enforcing new F-gas regulations, and multiple countries developed incentive programs to reduce hydrofluorocarbon emissions; and

WHEREAS, In 2016, with the passage of Senate Bill 1383, California committed to reducing statewide emissions of methane and hydrofluorocarbons by 40 percent below 2013 levels, and anthropogenic black carbon by 50 percent below 2013 levels, by 2030; and

WHEREAS, In 2016, nearly 200 countries negotiated and agreed to the Kigali amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer to reduce production and consumption of hydrofluorocarbons; and

WHEREAS, In 2017, with the passage of Senate Bill 563, and in 2018, in the Budget Act of 2018, California established and funded the Woodsmoke Reduction Program, an incentive program to reduce black carbon emissions by phasing out the use of old, inefficient woodstoves and other wood-burning devices; and

WHEREAS, In 2018, as hydrofluorocarbons have become the fastest-growing source of greenhouse gas emissions, California is strengthening policies to reduce hydrofluorocarbon emissions by promoting investments in alternative cooling technologies; and

WHEREAS, Among super pollutants, methane is estimated to be responsible for 20 percent of current net climate forcing; and

WHEREAS, Methane emission from dairies is a concern in regions throughout the world; and

WHEREAS, Out of all of California’s climate-action programs, methane emissions reduction programs have the potential to achieve the state’s most significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions; and

WHEREAS, Over the past three years, California has made investments of over $240 million to reduce methane emissions from dairies, including through alternative manure management strategies, development of dairy digesters at small and large dairies, and research projects to develop additional methane reduction strategies; and

WHEREAS, To date, California methane reduction grant programs that target dairy emissions are oversubscribed and highly cost effective in comparison to other statewide climate-action programs, and recently funded projects create a pathway for captured methane to become a carbon-neutral fuel for trucks and buses; and

WHEREAS, California’s leadership on super pollutant emissions reduction is consistent with broad international efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; and

WHEREAS, International meetings provide a mechanism by which national and state governments can refine policies to further address super pollutant emissions; and

WHEREAS, California’s policies may serve as a blueprint for other state and regional governments; and

WHEREAS, At the upcoming Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco, international organizers have scheduled an entire day to understanding the problem of super pollutant emissions and identifying solutions; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, That the Senate hereby proclaims the week of September 9, 2018, through September 15, 2018, inclusive, as Super Pollutant Reduction Week, to coincide with the Global Climate Action Summit; and be it further

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.