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<br /> <br />Red Morton Community Park Sports Lighting Initial Study <br />City of Redwood City 41 June 2015 <br />4.7 GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS <br /> <br />4.7.1 Setting <br /> <br />Unlike emissions of criteria and toxic air pollutants, which have local or regional impacts, emissions <br />of Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) have a broader, global impact. Global warming associated with the <br />“greenhouse effect” is a process whereby GHGs accumulating in the atmosphere contribute to an <br />increase in the temperature of the earth’s atmosphere. The principal GHGs contributing to global <br />warming and associated climate change are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide <br />(N2O), and fluorinated compounds. Emissions of GHGs contributing to global climate change are <br />attributable in large part to human activities associated with the transportation, industrial/ <br />manufacturing, utility, residential, commercial, and agricultural sectors. In California and the <br />Redwood City area, the greatest GHG emissions are associated with transportation and electricity <br />and commercial/residential energy. <br /> <br />4.7.1.1 Applicable Plans, Policies, and Regulations <br /> <br />Agencies at the international, national, state, and local levels are considering strategies to control <br />emissions of GHG that contribute to global warming. Several key plans and policies are described <br />below. <br /> <br />California Assembly Bill 32 <br /> <br />With the passage of AB 32 (Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006), the State of California made a <br />commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, which represents about a 30 <br />percent decrease over current levels. In addition to AB 32, Executive Order S-3-05 (EO S-3-05) <br />established a reduction target of 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050 and Executive Order B -16- <br />2012 established benchmarks for increased use of zero emission vehicles and zero emission vehicle <br />infrastructure by 2020 and 2025.14 In December 2008, the ARB approved the Climate Change <br />Scoping Plan, which proposes a comprehensive set of actions designed to reduce California’s <br />dependence on oil, diversify energy sources, save energy, and enhance public health, among other <br />goals. <br /> <br />Per AB 32, the Scoping Plan must be updated every five years to evaluate the mix of AB 32 policies <br />to ensure that California is on track to achieve the 2020 GHG reduction goal. In May 2014, CARB <br />approved the First Update to the Climate Change Scoping Plan.15 The 2014 First Update defines <br />CARB’s climate change priorities for the next five years and lays the groundwork to start the <br />transition to the post-2020 goals set forth in Executive Orders S-3-05 and B-16-2012. The 2014 First <br />Update highlights California’s progress toward meeting the “near-term” 2020 GHG emission <br />reduction goals defined in the 2008 Scoping Plan and evaluates how to align the State’s longer-term <br />greenhouse gas reduction strategies with other State policy priorities, such as for wate r, waste, <br />natural resources, agriculture, clean energy, transportation, and land use. <br /> <br /> <br />14 Office of Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. Executive Order B-16-2012. Available at: <br /><http://gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=17472>. Accessed November 7, 2013. <br />15California Air Resources Board. First Update First Update to the AB 32 Scoping Plan. May 2014. Available at <br /><http://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/scopingplan/document/updatedscopingplan2013.htm>. Accessed June 6, 2014. <br />8.A. - Page 58