USA, California:

New Legislation Would Mandate 50% Clean Energy Target (The Desert Sun)

Assemblyman Eduardo Garcia

California State Assemblyman Eduardo Garcia has introduced a bill that would require California to get 50 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030, responding to Gov. Jerry Brown’s call for such a mandate in his State of the State address earlier this month.

Garcia, a Coachella Democrat, probably won’t be the only legislator to introduce a bill on the topic. But his legislation — Assembly Bill 197, known as the Clean Energy Act — could help set the tone for later debate.

The desert, Garcia emphasized, is home to enormous quantities of solar, wind and geothermal potential. Renewable energy is expected to create up to 163,000 jobs in California by 2020, his office noted, citing a report from California Clean Energy Future, a compendium of state agencies.

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