California renews climate change fight as Trump

California set forth the "most ambitious" climate target in North America on the day of Donald Trump's inauguration to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent bellow 1990 levels by 2030.

"Climate change is impacting California now, and we need to continue to take bold and effective action to address it head-on to protect and improve the quality of life in California," Mary Nichols, chair of the California Air Resources Board (CARB), said in a press release Friday.

Shortly after Trump was sworn into office, the newly updated White House website said the new administration will eliminate the Climate Action Plan, which seeks to cut emissions in part by preserving forests and encouraging increased use of cleaner renewable fuels.

California Governor Jerry Brown has already promised his state was "ready to fight" any attempts by the new administration to roll back the state's policies that combat global warming.

According to the CARB, achieving the 2030 target under the proposed plan will continue to build on investments in clean energy and set the California economy on a trajectory to achieving an 80 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

The plan includes an extension of the state's controversial carbon cap-and-trade program. Among other, it calls for adding 4.2 million zero-emissions vehicles in the state, increasing the stringency of its low-carbon fuel standard (reducing carbon intensity by 18 percent by 2030), and a 20 percent reduction of greenhouse gases from the state's refinery sector.

"The plan will help us meet both our climate and our clean air goals in the coming decades and provide billions of dollars in investments to cut greenhouse gases, smog and toxic pollution in disadvantaged communities throughout the state. It is also designed to continue to drive creative innovation, generating good new jobs in the growing clean technology sector," Nichols said.

source: Xinhua