California’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory, which was released last week, indicated that in 2020, when many Californians stayed home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, carbon pollution saw the single largest decline as a percentage of the previous year’s total in the more than 20 years the state has been tracking emissions. Greenhouse gas emissions in the state fell by 35.3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). This reduction of 9% exceeds the second-largest drop the state experienced between 2008 and 2009 when GHG emissions dropped 6% during the height of the Great Recession.
Overall, the annual drop in greenhouse gas emissions was mirrored by a smaller, but still significant 2.8% drop in the state’s GDP. Notably the greenhouse gas emissions per unit of GDP, which reflects how carbon intensive the economy is, also continued to fall. ■