CONTACT: Erika Guzman Cornejo, 310-755-1615, erika@envirovoters.org

Sacramento, CA — California Environmental Voters (EnviroVoters) released the following statement on the California Air Resources Board (CARB) voting unanimously to adopt the final Scoping Plan. This roadmap for California’s pathway to carbon neutrality by 2045 is updated every five years.

The final 2022 Scoping Plan includes commitments to more mass transit, no new gas power plants, to phasing out oil refining and extraction, and to strong interim targets to phase out gas power plants. Unfortunately, it also includes reliance on carbon capture and storage (CCS), along with the expansion of polluting hydrogen and biofuels like diary biogas.  

Statement from Sam Sukaton, State Advocacy and Regulatory Coordinator at California Environmental Voters:

“We greet CARB’s clear commitment in this Scoping Plan to ending the use of gas plants in California. We also appreciate CARB’s vision and alignment with California’s broader commitment to reduce vehicles per mile traveled and its attendant consequences for mass transit. 

We are, however, disappointed with CARB’s prioritization away from electrification and nature-based sequestration towards biogas and carbon capture technologies. We insist that environmental justice communities are centered in the implementation of the Scoping Plan, on an absolute denial of the use of CCS to extend the life of fossil fuel infrastructure, and on a comprehensive health equity analysis to ensure people burdened by oil and gas don’t inherit the the health impacts of biogas and carbon capture.”

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California Environmental Voters (formerly the California League of Conservation Voters) believes the climate crisis is here and this moment requires transformative change. California has the policy solutions to stop climate change but lacks the political will to do it at the rate and scale that’s necessary. EnviroVoters exists to build the political power to solve the climate crisis, advance justice, and create a roadmap for global action. We organize voters, elect and train candidates, and hold lawmakers accountable for bold policy change. We won’t stop until we have resilient, healthy, thriving communities, and a democracy and economy that is just and sustainable for all. Join us at www.envirovoters.org and on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. See more press releases.

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