 California adopts ambitious climate change bill Los Angeles (AFP) Oct 7, 2015 - The governor of California on Wednesday signed an ambitious climate change bill that aims to increase the use of renewable electricity and make buildings more energy efficient. "California has taken groundbreaking steps to increase the efficiency of our cars, buildings and appliances and provide ever more renewable energy," said Governor Jerry Brown at the signing ceremony. "With SB 350, we deepen our commitment." The bill aims for California to generate 50 percent of its electricity from renewable resources such as wind and solar energy by 2030. It also calls for buildings in the West Coast state to become twice as energy efficient by 2030. "Today, California is laying the groundwork for a healthier and sustainable future for all of our families," said state senator Kevin de Leon. "We are showing the world through innovation how we can transition and increase access to renewable energy while cleaning up the air we breathe, especially in our most polluted communities." The legislation had suffered a major setback last month when it had to be amended to remove a component that would have required reduced gasoline consumption on California roads. Oil companies had opposed the measure, launching a fierce lobbying campaign that included television and radio ads. California is the largest US state by population -- the third largest state by area -- and often is seen as a trendsetter for the rest of the country.
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The time is right for governments to introduce taxes on carbon emissions, which would help fight global warming and raise badly needed revenue, IMF chief Christine Lagarde said Wednesday.
"It is just the right moment to introduce carbon taxes," Lagarde said at the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Lima, Peru.
The issue is in the spotlight two months from a key United Nations conference in Paris tasked with delivering a comprehensive carbon-cutting pact to save the planet from the potentially catastrophic impact of global warming.
Besides discouraging pollution, Lagarde said, taxing greenhouse gas emissions would have the added bonus of helping governments boost their revenues at a time when many countries have dipped heavily into their "fiscal buffers" to get through a prolonged rough patch for the global economy.
"Finance ministers are looking for revenues. That's the fate of finance ministers. But it's particularly the case at the moment because many have already used a lot of their fiscal buffers... and are always in need of some fiscal buffers in order to fight the next crisis," she said.
Lagarde urged governments to tax carbon emissions rather than rely on emissions trading, a competing system already in place in Europe in which governments essentially issue permits to pollute that can then be traded on an open market.
"I know that a lot of people would rather do emissions trading systems, but we believe that carbon taxation would be a lot better," she said.
Lagarde said revenues from carbon taxes could contribute to rich nations' funding target of $100 billion a year by 2020 to help poorer nations fight the impacts of climate change.
The world was still $38 billion short of that target last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said in a new report.
Lagarde said it was also the "right moment" to eliminate energy subsidies, which the IMF says will cost the world $5.3 trillion this year -- 6.5 percent of the global economy.
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