California Governor Issues Executive Order to Aggressively Reduce Greenhouse Gases by 2030

California would aggressively reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 under an ambitious plan announced by Gov. Jerry Brown.

The governor issued an executive order Wednesday to set a target of reducing emissions by 40 percent below 1990 levels over the next 15 years. The rules aim to curb global warming.

It goes further than a federal plan to cut carbon-dioxide emissions by 30 percent by 2030, with 2005 levels as the starting point.

Brown's order aligns California's greenhouse-gas reduction targets with those of leading international governments ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris later this year. The
28-nation European Union has set the same target for 2030.

Brown didn't lay out specifics on how to reach the goal but says climate change would factor into government planning.