California’s Climate Policies Exposed: How the Poor Are Paying the Price for the Rich

California’s Climate Dilemma: The Unseen Impact on the Poor

Many California leaders with progressive credentials now reluctantly admit that the state’s climate policies disproportionately harm the poor. In 2023, officials revealed that achieving carbon neutrality by 2045 would decrease incomes for families earning under $100,000 by $5.3 billion, while benefiting wealthier households by the same amount.

Earlier this year, concerned lawmakers asked the Legislative Analyst’s Office to study ways to mitigate these regressive effects. The resulting 16-page report highlighted numerous ways the state’s climate policy disadvantages the impoverished, including high energy costs and limited access to clean technology.

This paradoxical situation might seem unthinkable. Yet, climate activists justify these policies by arguing that human-caused climate change will mainly affect low-income people and that reducing greenhouse-gas emissions will ultimately benefit everyone.

At first glance, the claim that climate change will disproportionately harm lower-income communities appears logical. However, the reality is that California’s green-energy policies inflict immediate hardships, such as skyrocketing energy prices, on the state’s poorest residents.

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The Global Perspective: Emissions, Poverty, and Economic Growth

Human emissions have coincided with one of history’s greatest reductions in global poverty. From 1990 to 2019, as emissions surged, the proportion of the world’s population in extreme poverty fell dramatically from 38 percent to 8.4 percent.

Food production surged from 2000 to 2020, with global primary-crop production rising by 52 percent. These increases have outstripped population growth, resulting in higher daily caloric intake in every region.

The global economy nearly doubled in value during this period. However, the Covid lockdowns in 2020 disrupted these gains, pushing nearly 70 million more people into extreme poverty.

The lockdowns also reduced emissions by 7 percent. Some climate activists view this as a necessary “fire drill” for future climate action, despite the adverse effects on the poor. These include:

• Economic disruptions
• Rising poverty levels
• Increased food insecurity

California’s Climate Efforts: A Drop in the Ocean?

Climate activists argue that California’s efforts will make the world more habitable, including for the poor. Yet, former governor Jerry Brown acknowledged that without complementary emission reductions in major countries like China and India, these efforts will be ineffective.

Studies show that low-emissions growth has mainly occurred in wealthier regions that have shifted to service-intensive sectors. However, these regions still import vast quantities of high-emission goods like steel and cement.

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When these “outsourced” emissions are counted, seemingly green countries like Denmark reveal a much larger carbon footprint. The EU and the UK are imposing carbon-content import taxes to address this issue, but California has yet to follow suit.

The displacement of goods production and the desire for better living standards have increased energy consumption and emissions globally. Despite local efforts, global carbon dioxide emissions continue to rise, hitting a record 37.4 billion metric tonnes last year.

The West’s Failing Climate Policies

Since the 1990s, Western activists have understood that both developed and developing nations must cut emissions to meet UN climate goals. However, policymakers have not clearly explained how their plans would allow ongoing economic growth.

In 2018, international scholars created pathways for meeting 2100 emissions goals, some of which could yield more equitable growth. Yet, recent studies show that these plans would still disadvantage the world’s poor.

California’s climate policies exemplify the West’s climate-policy failures. The transition to a service-sector economy has concentrated wealth among those least affected by energy costs, while imposing burdens on the less fortunate.

This approach risks stifling economic growth and increasing political instability. As the West struggles, countries like China and rapidly developing nations continue to grow, further complicating global climate efforts.

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