2020 saw steepest drop in carbon pollution due to the pandemic
California’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory indicated that in 2020 – when many Californians stayed home due to COVID-19 – 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 (MMT) 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.
News Release, October 26, 2022