Senator Cortese's Statement on President Biden’s Commitment to Cut GHG Emissions in Half by 2030

Senator Dave Cortese (D-San Jose) issued the following statement after President Biden unveiled a plan at this week’s White House virtual climate summit to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 50%-52% by the year 2030.  

“I applaud President Biden for his leadership in putting forward this commitment to our collective future that is more needed and necessary now than ever before. This pledge is a path forward to bring about cleaner, healthier communities across America. It also serves to boost the legislative efforts we are pursuing here in California, including a commitment to reducing our greenhouse gas levels to at least 80% below their 1990 level by 2030 and restoring our climate to preindustrial levels before 2050, both of which are goals our state can achieve through SB 582.”

Senator Cortese is the author of the ambitious California Building Decarbonization Package, SB 30, SB 31, and SB 32, and a principal co-author of SB 582 (introduced by Senator Henry Stern), The Climate Emergency Mitigation, Safe Restoration, and Just Resilience Act.

SB 30, SB 31, and SB 32 are a set of bills that would remove greenhouse gas from California’s building sector through statewide programs, policies, and priorities.

SB 582, California's recent Senate bill on climate restoration, requires the state board to ensure that statewide greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to at least 80% below the 1990 level by 2030. In addition to job creation, climate justice, and ecosystem restoration, the bill requires various agencies to develop a climate restoration plan that:

  1.    Achieves and maintains net-negative greenhouse gas emissions in California by 2035;
  2.    Exercises global leadership in restoring atmospheric and oceanic concentrations of greenhouse gas emissions to pre-industrial levels as soon as possible, but by 2050 at the latest; and
  3.    Commits to carbon-removal targets that are necessary to facilitate achievement of the goals above.

For more information, contact Tara Sreekrishnan, Office of Senator Dave Cortese, at 408 480 7833 or tara.sreekrishnan@sen.ca.gov.