West

California

California has long been a leader in climate and environmental justice policy and is one of the world’s largest economies. Despite ambitious climate policies, including an emissions reduction target of 85% below 1990 levels by 2045, emissions decreased only 12% from 1990-2022. Over 60% of in-state electricity is generated from renewables, and the state is the nation’s top producer of electricity from solar and geothermal resources. The state ranks 8th in the country for crude oil production, although both crude oil and natural gas production are steadily declining.

GHG Reduction Targets

All targets relative to 1990 levels

2030

40%

2045

85%

2045

Carbon neutral

Governor

Gavin Newsom (Democrat)

House Party

Democratic Supermajority

Senate Party

Democratic Supermajority

Legislative session

12/2/24 - 9/12/25

US Climate Alliance Status

Member

Key Offices & Links

52

Policies Enacted or In Progress

across 7 policy areas

See all

15

Policy Opportunities

across 4 policy areas

See all

West

11 states

This map shows the occurrence of climate policies passed at the state-level. Higher numbers represent more climate policies enacted.

Compare with other states

Progress by Policy Area

Enacted Enacted policies have been passed or established in a state by a governing body via legislation, executive orders, rules, regulations, and/or other program creation, and remain in effect.
In-progress In progress policies have been established in a state, but final regulations, rules, or plans are pending final approval. This also includes legislation and executive orders that require regulations to be put into effect.
Partially Enacted Partially enacted policies have been enacted in the state, but are missing one or more policy components. Dashboard policies cannot be considered partially enacted unless policy components are available.
Not Enacted Not enacted policies have not been passed or established in the state or are no longer in effect.

Glossary of Terms

The colored bars indicate the status for each policy on the Dashboard, viewed across seven policy areas.

Status	Policy	Policy Area	Policy Category	Year Enacted
Enacted	Residential Energy Codes Empty column The statewide energy code for residential construction is the California 2025 Energy Code. Establishing Policies California State Energy Code (2024)	Buildings and Efficiency	Building Codes	2025
Enacted	Commercial Energy Codes Empty column The statewide energy code for commercial building construction is the California 2025 Energy Code. Establishing Policies California State Energy Code (2025)	Buildings and Efficiency	Building Codes	2024
Enacted	Stretch Building Energy Codes Empty column The California Green Building Standards (CALGreen) include voluntary reach codes for local jurisdictions wishing to exceed minimum building requirements. Establishing Policies California Green Building Standards Code, Title 24, Part 11 (2022)	Buildings and Efficiency	Building Codes
Enacted	Appliance Standards Empty column The Appliance Efficiency Regulations apply to over 70 products. Establishing Policies California Code of Regulations, Title 20, Sections 1601 - 1609 (2019) Appliance Efficiency Regulations - Title 20	Buildings and Efficiency	Building Standards	2019
Not Enacted	Building Performance Standards Empty column Building performance standards establish energy and/or greenhouse gas performance targets for existing buildings in a state. These targets increase in stringency over time, leading to efficiency improvements in buildings to conserve energy and reduce emissions.	Buildings and Efficiency	Building Standards
Not Enacted	Clean Heat Standards Empty column Clean heat standards establish a performance standard requiring heat providers to deliver a gradually-increasing percentage of low-emission heating services to customers.	Buildings and Efficiency	Building Standards
Enacted	Energy Efficiency Resource Standards (EERS) Empty column Electric utilities are required to achieve savings targets ranging from 1737.3 gigawatt hours (GWh) to 8,482.8 GWh for 2024-2035, depending on the utility. Gas utilities are required to achieve savings targets ranging from 17.1 million metric therms (MMTherms) to 189.3 MMTherms for 2024-2035, depending on the utility. Establishing Policies SB 350 (2015) Rulemaking 13-11-005 (2023) Decision 23-08-005 (2023)	Buildings and Efficiency	Building Efficiency	2023
Enacted	Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Empty column California has enacted residential and commercial PACE-enabling legislation and has active programs. Establishing Policies AB 811 (2007)	Buildings and Efficiency	Building Efficiency	2007
Partially Enacted	Weatherization Funding Empty column The State Policy Opportunity Tracker (SPOT) breaks clean energy policies down into “components”, which are binary questions to evaluate policy quality. Higher quality policies have more of their SPOT components fulfilled. Establishing Policies SPOT - Weatherization Funding in California Policy Components enacted enacted not-enacted enacted 3/4	Buildings and Efficiency	Building Efficiency
Enacted	All-Electric Buildings Empty column Phases out natural gas burning furnaces and hot-water heaters in new buildings by 2030 Updated 2025 Building Energy Efficiency Standards promotes the use of heat pumps in residential and commercial buildings. Establishing Policies Strategy for the State Implementation Plan (2022) 2025 Building Energy Efficiency Standards	Buildings and Efficiency	Building Electrification	2022
Enacted	Thermal Energy Networks Empty column Gas utilities can pilot up to 30 cost-effective neighborhood-scale decarbonization projects in lieu of replacing gas pipelines. These zero-emission pilots may take the form of “neighborhood electrification” or thermal energy networks. Establishing Policies SB 1221 (2024)	Buildings and Efficiency	Building Electrification	2024

California

Key Offices & Links

52

15

West

Progress by Policy Area

Climate Governance and Equity

Cross-Sector

Electricity

Buildings and Efficiency

Transportation

Industry, Materials, and Waste Management

Natural and Working Lands

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Projections in California

Climate Policies in California