Governor Schwarzenegger Discusses California's Energy Challenges and Opportunities at New Majority's Global Economy Summit

Today, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger addressed more than 400 scientists, business executives and political leaders at the New Majority's "Energy Alternatives: America's Challenge in the Global Economy Summit," a joint venture between the University of California at Irvine, the Milken Institute and the New Majority California's Energy Task Force. The Governor discussed the state's progress in finding alternative energy sources that will help us meet our state's aggressive renewable energy goals.

"Our state, nation and world are facing unprecedented challenges from global warming, high energy prices and threats to our energy security," Governor Schwarzenegger said. "California has the power, the innovation and the will to become the first state in the nation to achieve energy independence while fighting global warming.

"It won't happen overnight, but I know that it will happen if we remain committed. We can show the world how protecting the environment and growing the economy go hand in hand. Let's put the power of California capitalism, California research and California ingenuity to work and see how much we can accomplish."

The Governor has set a goal to increase California's renewable energy sources to 20 percent by 2010, and he supports reaching 33 percent by 2020. Increasing the state's renewable energy sources will also help us meet our greenhouse gas emissions targets under AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006.

To encourage more Californians to use renewable energy and increase supply, the Governor signed his Million Solar Roofs Plan into law in 2006, which will provide 3,000 megawatts of additional clean energy and reduce the output of greenhouse gases by three million tons, equivalent to taking one million cars off the road. The $2.9 billion incentive plan for homeowners and building owners who install solar electric systems will lead to one million solar roofs in California by the year 2018.

Last October, the Governor also signed AB 1470 by Assemblymember Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael), the Solar Water Heating and Efficiency Act of 2007, which provides incentives to reach a goal of installing 200,000 solar water heating systems in the state by 2017.

California companies are producing a growing share of green technology patents and numerous energy efficient products and services, allowing companies and individuals to expand while reducing their energy use. According to Next10's "California Green Innovation Index" California patents account for 44 percent of all U.S. patents in solar and 37 percent in all U.S. patents in wind technologies.

In addition to California's policies aimed at spurring renewable energy growth, the state has also launched the most aggressive energy efficiency and conservation program in the world. Over a three-year period, this program will eliminate the need to build three power plants, cutting energy costs for homes and businesses by $5 billion.

Governor Schwarzenegger has led California in establishing laws and policies aimed at helping our state achieve energy independence and fight global warming, including:

Last October, California and a coalition of European Union countries, U.S. states, Canadian provinces, Norway and New Zealand formed the world's first International Carbon Action Partnership (ICAP) to develop solutions to global climate change. ICAP will provide an international forum in which governments adopting enforceable caps on greenhouse gas emissions will share experience and best practices on the design of emissions trading mechanisms. ICAP will help ensure trading mechanisms are compatible and work to boost demand for low-carbon products and services, promote innovation and reduce the cost of effective reductions to allow swift and ambitious cuts in global warming emissions.
Last August, the Western Climate Initiative (WCI), of which California is a founding participant, announced a common goal to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 15 percent below 2005 levels by 2020, reflecting the cumulative total of individual reduction goals for each state and province. California originally signed on to the WCI with the Governors of Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington at the 2007 National Governor's Association winter meeting in Washington, D.C. on February 26, 2007. Utah, Montana and the Canadian provinces of Manitoba, British Columbia and Quebec have joined since that time.
In February 2007, the Governor announced that the University of California Berkeley received a $500 million grant from BP to establish the Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI). University of California Berkeley is a partner with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on this groundbreaking project. EBI is the first public-private research lab dedicated to renewable fuels and clean energy.
In January 2007, the Governor announced the world's first Low Carbon Fuel Standard for transportation fuels that requires fuel providers to reduce the carbon intensity of transportation fuels sold in California. This first-of-its kind standard firmly establishes sustainable demand for lower-carbon fuels without favoring one fuel over another. To start, the standard will reduce the carbon intensity of California's passenger vehicle fuels by at least 10 percent by 2020 and more thereafter. A National Low Carbon Fuel Standard modeled on California's has been introduced in Congress and added to the Lieberman-Warner bill addressing climate change.
In September 2006, the Governor signed the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, California's landmark bill that established a first-in-the-world comprehensive program of regulatory and market mechanisms to achieve real, quantifiable, cost-effective reductions of greenhouse gases. The law will reduce carbon emissions in California to 1990 levels by the year 2020. Governor Schwarzenegger has also called for the state to reduce carbon emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by the year 2050.