Report

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Clearing the Zero-Emission Path

A review of financial transfers to polluting fuels via California carbon trading programs

This report reveals how California’s carbon trading programs funneled $27.8 billion to oil companies and biofuel suppliers from 2013 to 2024.  Both the Cap and Trade program and the Low Carbon Fuel Standard have the stated purpose of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and helping California meet its statutory climate goals. In reality, our analysis shows … Read more

Categories Fossil Fuels Just Transition Transportation
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Carbon Dioxide Removal in California

A practical guide for policymakers and the public

Forest. Photo via Canva.

California is entering a pivotal moment in its fight against the climate crisis, one that demands not only accelerating the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, but also confronting carbon pollution left behind since the Industrial Revolution. These long-lived legacy emissions will continue to impact the climate, even when society has successfully decarbonized across sectors. The … Read more

Categories Carbon Drawdown Natural Carbon Sequestration
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Reforming California’s Cap and Trade Program

Analysis and Recommendations

Sacramento River. Photo via Canva.

The California Cap and Trade Program plays a pivotal role in the state’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The program is currently under review to incorporate updated emissions inventory data and the increased emissions reduction targets adopted in the 2022 Scoping Plan. The revised regulations will determine emissions targets, budgets, and potential reforms for … Read more

Categories Climate Targets
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Reducing Consumer Costs in California

Performance-Based Regulation for Investor-Owned Utilities

California faces an electricity affordability crisis, with rates soaring far beyond national averages and contributing to financial distress for many households. In order to build a cleaner, more reliable, and more affordable energy system, California policymakers should look to performance-based regulation. What is performance-based regulation? Performance-based regulation (PBR) describes a set of policy tools that … Read more

Categories Clean Energy Community Energy Resilience Energy Efficiency
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Water’s Edge Tax Haven and California’s Budget Shortfall

How Oil and Gas Majors Crafted a Tax Avoidance Policy Contributing to Ongoing Budget Woes

Oil tankers at the Port of Long Beach.

This report details how global oil majors like ExxonMobil, Chevron, and Shell orchestrated the creation of California’s Water’s Edge tax loophole — a policy that now costs California taxpayers billions annually. It offers a first-of-its-kind, historical look at how oil giants lobbied for and have benefited from the Water’s Edge tax election, shielding their profits … Read more

Categories Climate Justice Fossil Fuels
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Envisioning the California Grid for the Future

Clean, Affordable, Reliable, Resilient, Equitable, and Safe

This paper presents a pathway for reforms needed in California to achieve a future in which everyone has access to clean, affordable, and reliable electricity. The landscape in this new world is dotted with solar panels on every suitable rooftop, complemented by a resilient network of microgrids as well as mobile and stationary batteries that … Read more

Categories Clean Energy Community Energy Resilience Energy Efficiency Transportation
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Building Decarbonization Policy Brief

Financing a Climate-Safe Future: Low- and Moderate-Income Residential Building Decarbonization

Decarbonizing existing residential buildings is critical to meeting California’s climate goals. Buildings in California are responsible for almost 44 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year, or 25 percent of the state’s climate pollution. Recent research shows that, to keep pace with the latest climate science and stay below 1.5 degrees Celsius of … Read more

Categories Clean Energy Energy Efficiency Fossil Fuels
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Hydrogen Policy Brief

Guidance for policymakers on the production, delivery, and applications of renewable energy-based electrolytic hydrogen

The IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report states that 100 percent renewable energy systems will likely need to include hydrogen. However, the hydrogen debate — based on efficiency costs, climate pollution, health and safety, and environmental impacts — is complex and has ebbed and flowed over the past several decades. The reality is that hydrogen is neither … Read more

Categories Clean Energy Fossil Fuels Transportation
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Carbon Capture and Storage Policy Brief

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)

Limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, as outlined in the Paris Agreement, requires both cutting emissions by at least 45 percent by 2030 and removing past carbon pollution from the atmosphere. The use of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology is increasingly under discussion among policymakers as one of multiple potential tools for cutting carbon pollution. … Read more

Categories Climate Justice Fossil Fuels Just Transition Natural Carbon Sequestration Public Health