Some Colorado Democrats are taking a “bigger and better” swing at addressing climate change this year, but first it needs to survive a process that killed last year’s effort.
The bill would set 2050 as the goal for a 100% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Currently, the state has a goal of a 90% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by then, compared to 2005. The big current milestone is 50% by 2030. Hansen’s bill would add a 65% target for 2035, 80% by 2040, and 90% by 2045.
The bill includes provisions to move the state along that emissions reduction path. In what may be most immediately felt by consumers, it would create a 30% point-of-sale tax credit for electric lawn equipment and snowblowers. If fully implemented, it would cost the state about $11 million per year. Nonpartisan legislative staff analysis estimates it would apply to some 200,000 purchases per year.
Senate President Steve Fenberg, a Boulder Democrat, called this year’s effort “a big bill,” and one that could take a while to reach the governor’s desk. He noted that it has money attached to it, so it needs to go through the budget process. In his own budget proposal, Polis called for $120 million in tax credits for clean energy, which would include up to $10 million for electric lawn equipment, up to $75 million for clean transportation that includes tax credits for electric vehicles and bicycles and up to $30 million in incentives for manufacturer’s emission reduction projects and a transition to sustainable aviation fuels, among other things.
“Independent of what the policy goals are, PERA’s investment portfolio is not designed to be an instrument of public policy,” Baker said.
2050 is a unrealistic dream that will not happen. Watch PeterZeihan videos to get a grip on reality on all of this, don't get me wrong I think buildings should be smarter and greener but there is a limit
Two things: 1) I GREATLY prefer Colorado's approach to ENCOURAGE decarbonization (climate-change) improvements - in lieu of California's tyrannical brute-force methodology 2) I disagree that 'electrification' is the ONLY WAY to achieve Decarbonization/Climate-Change goals