Oct 15 - California Releases Global Warming Plan, Misses Recycling Opportunity
The ARB just posted the final draft of the AB 32 Scoping Plan. The recommendations for the Waste and Recycling sector are completely inadequate and not a sufficient improvement over the previous draft. While the plan acknowledged that there may be significant greenhouse gas savings available from recycling, it failed to provide discrete actions for meeting the AB 32 goals through increased recycling.
Strategies to increase recycling, such as a mandatory commercial recycling program, would help the state achieve its AB 32 targets in a cost-effective manor, provide significant co-benefits, and help stimulate economic growth through green job creation. There is no justification for California to pass up this "low-hanging fruit" in its global warming efforts. We strongly urge the ARB and CIWMB to revise this element of the scoping plan before final adoption.