The California Air Resources Board has released its draft Short-Lived Climate Pollutant Reduction Strategy after taking public comment on a related concept paper earlier in the year.  The strategy fulfills the mandate of Senate Bill 605 (Lara) signed into law in 2014, which requires the agency to develop a plan this year to reduce emissions from short-lived climate pollutants.  

Short-lived climate pollutants include black carbon, which comes from sources like wildfires and automobiles, methane, and F-gases, which come from refrigerants and motor vehicle air conditioning systems.  These pollutants remain in the atmosphere for a shorter time than longer-lived climate pollutants, but are estimated to be responsible for about forty percent of current net climate forcing.  Governor Brown has identified reductions of short-lived climate pollutants as one of his “five pillars” to meet the State’s goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to forty percent below 1990 levels by 2030.

The State is expected to announce a series of workshops to take public comment on the draft in the coming weeks.  The draft Short-Lived Climate Pollutant Strategy can be accessed here.