California is following in Hawaii's footsteps by committing to 100 percent clean energy.
Lawmakers in the state have passed a bill that will see it moving entirely to clean electricity sources by 2045, CBS reported Tuesday.
The vote comes as a report revealed Monday that California could lose up to two-thirds of its beaches and water supply due to climate change. Public polling showed the majority of Californians (about 72 percent) are supportive of the bill, although some business groups and utilities aren't in favour, citing job concerns.
As the US' most populous state, just over a third of energy in California comes from wind, solar or geothermal power, CBS said citing the US Energy Information Administration. Nine percent is derived from nuclear plants while 49 percent comes from natural gas, which the publication says is considered a "cleaner" fossil fuel.
Hawaii was the first state in the US to take this step, committing to 100 percent clean energy in 2017.
Negs01 on August 29th, 2018 at 23:28 UTC »
The article is incredibly misleading. The author claims (cites a claim) that over a third of their energy comes from wind, solar, or geothermal, however this is obviously not true for total energy (it's closer to 5-10%). If we assume she meant electricity only, about 22% is generated by wind, solar, and geo. To get over 1/3rd you have to add in hydro, which the environmentalists refuse to support. This comes to 37% of generation. (Data here.) Of course, California imports 1/4 of its electricity, so that 37% isn't even accurate.
Checlipse on August 29th, 2018 at 22:23 UTC »
Not exactly the second state, Massachusetts passed a very similar law about a month ago setting a goal for around 2040. I think...
megaboz on August 29th, 2018 at 19:04 UTC »
Electricity, not energy. They still haven't banned crude oil, and foreign oil imports to California are increasing. This is bad for obvious reasons:
Environmental protections are not as strict in other countries; importing foreign oil means more pollution may result where the oil is produced than if it were produced domestically. Just like food produced in other countries has "food miles", oil produced in other countries has "crude miles". Eat local, and consume locally produced crude. Effect of imports on GDP vs producing domestically.