California is accelerating the state’s push to achieve net-zero carbon pollution by 2045 with billions of dollars going to support communities and create green jobs.
By ONME Newswire
PARAMOUNT, Calif. – With unprecedented state investments supporting the state’s transition away from fossil fuels, Governor Gavin Newsom visited a renewable fuels facility in Paramount this week to spotlight California’s nation-leading transition to clean fuels and broader commitment to green jobs.
Governor Newsom toured World Energy – a renewable fuels company that converted a petroleum refinery to become the world’s first producer of sustainable aviation fuel and is currently building out the facility to produce clean hydrogen – to see California’s clean energy transition at work.
World Energy has received millions of dollars in grants from the state to support their clean energy projects, and is one of hundreds of companies that have received state funding. Already, World Energy Paramount has produced 150 million gallons of renewable fuels – the equivalent of taking 250,000 cars off the road – and represents the broader success of California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), which has dramatically reshaped the state’s fuels market. Since its inception in 2009, LCFS has doubled California’s use of clean fuels.
Additionally, the Governor marked International Workers’ Day while at World Energy and met with hundreds of union construction workers who are building the next phase of the facility that will produce clean renewable hydrogen.
“California’s clean energy future is here, and there’s no better example of that than this petroleum refinery-turned renewable fuels hub," said Newsom. "The fuels of the future are clean and California is leading the way with billions of dollars to supercharge this transition while creating thousands more good green jobs and growing our economic might.”
Governor Newsom also highlighted the state’s recent action to fully transition to zero emission trucks after the California Air Resources Board (CARB) approved a world-leading regulation last week to phase out the sales of medium and heavy-duty combustion trucks in California by 2036. World Energy will soon produce clean hydrogen, which many new trucks will rely on for fuel.
Monitoring the most vulnerable populations in California
Ten years ago, California launched CalEnviroScreen, the nation’s first comprehensive environmental health screening tool that identifies areas of the state that are most impacted by pollution to help advance environmental justice. Combining data on various environmental, health and socioeconomic challenges, the state has used this mapping tool to focus environmental protection and enforcement actions where they are needed most.
Areas in the state's top 25% priority disadvantages locations impacted by pollution the most include a large majority of the Central Valley and South Valley, followed by southern counties: Los Angeles, Imperial, San Bernardino, Riverside. Heading north, other priority counties impacted heavily by pollution include: San Joaquin, Santa Clara, Monterey, Alameda, San Francisco, Contra Costa, Solano, Sacramento, Yolo, Yuba, Butte, Glenn, and several tribal reseravations throughout the state.
To date, CalEnviroScreen has helped to direct $6.7 billion of the state’s $9.3 billion in California Climate Investments to projects benefiting priority populations. With an additional $13.2 billion currently appropriated to fund more California Climate Investments projects, CalEnviroScreen will continue to play a significant role in directing climate funding to priority populations for years to come.
“California leads the nation in groundbreaking action to confront the climate crisis and protect our most vulnerable communities,” said Governor Gavin Newsom. “Over the past decade, our state has used this innovative tool to prioritize climate investments where they are needed most, and we will continue this important focus on safeguarding the health of frontline communities across California.”
The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has released several updates to CalEnviroScreen and continues working with partners to improve the tool. Key developments have included the move from ZIP codes to the smaller census tracts, filling data gaps at the US-Mexico border, improvements to existing indicators, and the addition of new indicators, such as drinking water quality, lead risks, and housing cost burden.
CalEnviroScreen has been a model for environmental justice screening tools in other states including Michigan, Colorado, and Washington. The U.S. EPA introduced a national mapping and screening tool to the public in 2015 and the Council on Environmental Quality, as part of President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, recently released the Climate and Economic Justice Screening tool.