The state agency drawing up California’s plan to reach carbon neutrality by 2045 should take “even bolder action” to address climate change, Gov. Gavin Newsom said on Friday.

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) should include in its climate plan a goal of at least 20 GW of offshore wind by 2045 and a target of 7 million “climate-friendly” homes in the state by 2035, Newsom said. The state has about 14.5 million housing units, according to census data.

Newsom said he’s asking state agencies to plan for a clean energy transition without new natural gas plants. And he asked CARB to set a carbon removal goal of 20 million metric tons (MMT) for 2030 and 100 MMT for 2045.

“We know from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that there is no path to carbon neutrality without carbon capture and sequestration,” Newsom said in the letter sent to CARB Chairwoman Liane Randoph.

CARB lays out a roadmap for the state to meet its climate goals in a document called the scoping plan. Under state law, the scoping plan must be updated every five years. The next edition is due by the end of this year.

A draft version of the scoping plan was released in May and presented to the CARB board last month. Although CARB analyzed ways to get the state to carbon neutrality by 2035, the draft plan’s selected scenario has the state reaching carbon neutrality in 2045. Some critics have called the proposed scoping plan “too little, too late.” (See Critics Tear into CARB Draft Climate Change Plan.)

‘More Aggressive Actions’

In his letter to Randolph, Newsom called the draft plan “the world’s first large-economy plan for carbon neutrality.” He said CARB’s final scoping plan must lay out a path to statewide carbon neutrality by 2045 as well as meeting the state’s 2030 climate goals. California’s 2030 target is a 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to 1990 levels.

“The state’s draft carbon neutrality road map doesn’t go far enough or fast enough,” Newsom said Friday in a release. “That’s why I’m pushing state agencies to adopt more aggressive actions, from offshore wind to climate-friendly homes, and to make sure we never build another fossil fuel power plant in California again.”

Newsom asked that CARB incorporate his goals into the scoping plan.

Regarding offshore wind, Newsom said he would ask the California Energy Commission to set 20 GW by 2045 as a planning goal. Earlier this year, CEC proposed offshore wind goals of 3 GW by 2030 and 10 to 15 GW by 2045 —targets that some stakeholders called too conservative. (See CEC Postpones Vote on Offshore Wind Goals.)

‘Going Big’ on OSW

Offshore Wind California, a trade group of offshore wind developers and technology companies, is urging the CEC to approve offshore wind planning goals of 5 GW by 2030 and at least 20 GW by 2045. The group said Friday that Newsom’s announcement was “great news.”

“This is another sign California is serious about ‘going big’ on floating offshore wind, to drive economies of scale and realize the very substantial clean power, climate and jobs benefits offshore wind can deliver for our state,” Adam Stern, the group’s executive director, said in a statement.

In another request, Newsom wants CARB to adopt a 20% clean fuels target for the aviation sector.

Newsom also asked CARB to work with the state’s Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) to form a task force to find and fix methane leaks from oil infrastructure near communities.

The governor noted that the state budget allocates $100 million for methane detection satellites plus another $100 million for CalGEM to plug orphan oil wells, which may be leaking methane.