While ghouls and goblins were trick-or-treating last night, the California Energy Commission issued a scary report on the Golden State’s contribution to global warming. In 2004, California released 492 million gross metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. That makes the Bear Republic the nation’s second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases and the 12th to 16th largest contributor to global warming on the planet.
However, when put in context the report shows that the California experience offers hope that greenhouse gas emissions be contained. For instance, while the state’s economy grew 83 percent between 1990 and 2003 and it had the largest population increase in the country, greenhouse gas emissions rose only 12 percent, due largely to energy efficiency and renewable energy programs. "This demonstrates the potential for
uncoupling economic trends from (greenhouse gas) emissions trends," wrote the report’s authors.
Texas, in contrast, has double the carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel burning than California, and Wyoming has the highest per capita emission of greenhouse gases.
The report makes clear, though, that Californians will have to end their love affair with the internal combustion engine if they are to achieve significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Transportation produces about 41 percent of the state’s greenhouse gases.
Green Wombat 
An interesting sidebar to the observation regarding internal combustion engines: Sales of trucks and SUV’s were strong in October. Wasn’t it only a few months ago(about the time gas prices were hovering around $3.00 )when everyone was talking about hybrids and dumping their SUV and conservation?
Regardless, re-inveneting the internal combustion engine needs to be the centerpiece of efforts to curb global warming.
It is laughable that California complains about the emissions from vehicles, and yet refuses to mandate the use of cleaner burning fuels like A-21 which is an aqueous naphtha blend which was developed in the eary 1990’s.
A-21 not only reduces emissions from cars, naphtha is also easier and cheaper to produce at the refinery level with a reduction in emission from the refinery itself.
A-21 does threaten California’s gasoline sales tax revenues, which have grown from $1.7B in 2002 to $2.86B in 2005, an increase of 62%.