California is increasingly establishing itself as the United States' leading light in the fight against climate change. Governor Jerry Brown signed, on Thursday 8 September, a new law that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40 per cent by 2030, compared to levels recorded in 1990. All of this with a view to achieving, twenty years later, an 80 per cent reduction.

"California the first American state to take this step"

"Our choice is to commit to a long-term effort. We are the first American state to adopt a framework of this kind," Brown commented in a statement. This is, in fact, a far from insignificant step forward, bearing in mind that the previous legislation set a target of a 15 per cent reduction to be achieved by 2020.

"We want to ensure," added Assemblyman Anthony Rendon, as reported by the AFP news agency, "that the economic and environmental benefits that will flow from this law can be shared by everyone." This is a reference to the fact that the most polluted areas of California are also the poorest, as in the case of the Visalia region, heavily affected by intensive agricultural exploitation and oil drilling.

Reform of "pollution rights" still missing

It is no coincidence that the most staunch opponents of the California governor's decision were the executives of oil companies — the same ones who had also put up resistance last autumn, when a law was passed requiring that half of the electricity consumed in the state must come from renewable sources.

The new framework does, however, have one significant flaw. Despite the strong criticism levelled above all by environmental organisations, California will not, for now, be overhauling the cap and trade system, under which industries can purchase "pollution rights." This is a mechanism comparable to the "Ets" (Emission trading system) market that exists in Europe, itself also in the crosshairs of environmentalists.