California's Initiative to cut Carbon Emissions

The day I opened the newspaper when Inlanded in California, this week, the headlines that greeted me were heart warming. The headline announced that California's Air Resources Board approved a first-in-the-world regulation to minimize the amount of Carbon in fuel...putting CA as the first region to promote alternative fuels in a bid to combat global warming.

Its intereting to note that the regulation is applicable to automotive fuel manufacturers and they are liable to a stringent penalty if the carbon content in their fuels do not match the presribed standards. The idea is to reduce the Carbon content by 10% by 2020...lowering the amount of GHGs (Green house gases) released for every unitof energy produced. This is amongst the first of such targets being sent in the US towards reducing GHGs and thus initiating action against global warming.

The regulation is framed not only to combat global warming, but to initiate innovation in fuel manufacturing, perhaps marking a shift towards alternative fuels. as with any other regulation, this regultion was supported and opposed by specific groups. For me, the opposing group was interesting, which decried the possibility of shifting to biofuels, which will endanger the food supplies or rather take over the land meant for food production in the state.

It was expressed that the cost of this regulation will be tremendous for CA, yet the regulation is worthy of appalause as it has set the tone for action against global warming! It will remain to be seen, if the car friendly, energy guzzling and emission loving (through their luxury lifestyles) Californians can become the first state in US to reduce their overall C emissions by 2020. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Development Plan for Pune 2007-2027 - A 6 Point Agenda for Modifications

Image
All Punekars are aware that the buzz is afoot to sanction the Development Plan for the city of Pune in 2013, almost 6 years late! The Plan is now published and open for citizens' suggestions / modifications which need to be filed before 27 April 2013. In one DP related meeting held by Sajag Nagrik Manch and Parivartan, very relevant and critical issues were raised. The most important one from the citizen's side was, if the Government has been taking its time preparing the Development Plan for the past 6 years, why this sudden rush to finish off the process of citizens' suggestions and objections? Are 30 days, effectively only 22 (considering the holidays), enough for the citizens to access the Development Plan, possibly print it out,  locate their own neighborhoods and land holdings and actually see what kind of reservations, if any, are placed that will either benefit/not benefit them in their day-to-day lives and take formal objection with the Government, if not? And,...
Read more

Pune's Metro - What will happen to Pune and Punekars?

Image
"T he Metro will pass along the road right next to my bungalow. Will my property rate rise or fall? Can I continue staying at my bungalow with my family? Or will this mean that I need to redevelop, amalgamate with four other neighboring plot owners and build a commercial building on this property? "  While trying to answer these questions, I was suddenly overcome with a feeling that while I have been so engrossed speaking about the Metro, its technical implications (Elevated or Underground) and about the densification of the city due to 4.0 FSI, what had remained completely unaddressed by me, were the socio-economic implications of a Metro on a middle class Punekar! I will attempt to write this blog post demystifying some of the myths and presumptions of having a Metro in Pune and its direct relevance to a life of a Punekar. For the time being, I will keep aside all of my objections to the Metro and discuss this subject, hopefully as unbiased as I can. Lets t...
Read more

The Proposed Development Control Rules (DCR) for Pune - An Analysis

This analysis of the Proposed DCR is coming a bit late. The frenzy of voices for and against the DP and the DCR have died down. Nevertheless, as a loyalty gesture to my blog followers (:-), here is a quick Analysis of the DCR that I have presented in various fora: The Proposed DCR are radically different from their predecessor and I am glad of that. In the government, very rarely do we see officers taking a radical approach and this is surely a good sign. The document itself is actually quite well organized, short and to the point, with many issues given clarity, instead of just leaving decisions to the discretion of the Municipal Commissioner. Personally, I liked the shortness and crispness of it. Secondly, a very serious attempt has been made to simplify the FSI equations. This will make the life of architects better (who want to seriously practice & build good buildings), but this will also ensure that the right revenue dues are brought in by the Local municipal government....
Read more