Some of California's top energy bureaucrats have released a detailed vision of what the state's energy future might be in a new report that looks toward 2050 and what's involved in complying with the state's law mandating the reduction in greenhouse gases (AB32). It offers a fascinating look into the mindset of government officials.
As Calwatchdog writer Wayne Lusvardi explains, "About 60 percent of California's future energy system would be based on shifting the entire state population into electric vehicles. It would eliminate natural gas heating and cooking in all homes ... . All buildings in the state would have to be retrofitted or replaced. Another 20 percent would be based on costly low-tech energy storage in salt domes and air compressor batteries or in speculative technological breakthroughs that do not exist today and that would impose huge costs on electricity consumers. And a final 20 percent would be based on behavioral changes, such as changing diets to eat less red meat ... ."
"California's Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB32) and Executive Order S-3-05 set strict standards for the state to meet. In order to comply, California needs to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 80% below 1990 levels by 2050 while accommodating projected growth in its economy and population.So this is mainstream stuff. It offers a fascinating glimpse into the social-engineering mindset of the public officials who make decisions about energy and our future. Conservatives should be pleased by the report, in that it confirms a lot of what they have been saying about the likely effect of AB32. Realistically, all the Jetson-like futuristic predictions by bureaucrats won't change reality, but these officials can torment residents and businesses, impose costly mandates and regulations, and hector us about "sustainable" energy choices. Consider that Gov. Jerry Brown just signed into law a bill mandating that the state receive a third of its electricity from renewable sources in less than 10 years. Expect more command and control ... and more sane people heading East to other states.
"The goal of the CEF project is to help California develop sound and realistic strategies for meeting these standards, by providing an authoritative, non-partisan analysis of the potential of energy efficiency, electrification of transportation and heat, low-carbon electricity generation and fuel. Our analysis is designed to identify potential energy systems that would meet both our requirements for energy and the emission target specified by executive order."
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