Green Privilege

California trumpets its leadership on global warming climate change by pointing to the decline in carbon emissions over time. The analysis, however, is both strange and strained: [bold added]

2018 Mendocino fire: no CO2 to count
here, please move along (Chron photo)

The state does not include every source of gases that contribute to climate change when measuring its progress against the 2020 goal of 431 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions — or its even more ambitious 2030 target.

Significantly, California does not factor in emissions from wildfires, even though trees release carbon dioxide when they burn and people often provide the first spark. Out-of-state and international air travel is another area that is excluded, according to the California Air Resources Board.

There are reasons for these omissions: California officials use international standards that track the direct results of humans burning fossil fuels and other such activity within the boundaries of the state.

But the numbers left out of the state’s calculations are staggering. Last year alone, wildfires released 45.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the air, according to state estimates. That’s more than half as much as the state’s industrial sector emits in a typical year.

If California factored wildfire estimates into its final count for 2017, the last year the state tallied all of its greenhouse gas emissions, the state would have seen overall emissions rise, not fall.

The one-party state first makes the rules, then uses them to judge others.

Now I'm feeling especially virtuous. Excluding my five trips to Hawaii (so far) this year, my carbon tracker says that I'm reducing California's carbon footprint!