Carbon Management Coming Soon To California: Governor Newsom Signs Legislation Paving Way For Climate Pollution-Cutting Technology

What you need to know: Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation to help foster the state’s carbon management market, a key piece of the state’s efforts to cut climate pollution.

SACRAMENTO — Governor Gavin Newsom today announced he signed legislation that will boost the state’s burgeoning carbon capture, removal and storage market – a critical part of California’s efforts to address the climate crisis.

The Governor signed SB 614 by Senator Henry Stern (D-Los Angeles) that authorizes the safe development of dedicated pipelines to move carbon dioxide captured from emitters or removed from the atmosphere to underground geological formations for permanent storage. This legislation is a vital next step to further foster the nascent carbon capture, removal, and sequestration market here in California. This action comes as the Trump Administration reverses course on federal policies incentivizing the development of these projects and technologies.

“Carbon management is a critical pillar of California’s world-leading efforts to cut climate pollution. I’m signing this legislation to put our state on the leading edge of an emerging 21st Century industry that will not only help us address the climate crisis but create good paying, skilled jobs.”

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Governor Gavin Newsom

In addition to fostering the new carbon capture, removal and sequestration market in the state, SB 614 will create new economic opportunities and high road jobs, while reducing climate pollution that is exacerbating extreme weather. Leveraging the state’s innovative spirit, California is home to a growing number of carbon capture, removal and sequestration companies and startups that are attracting private investment.

“This bill will ensure that California adopts best-in-class regulations for carbon dioxide pipeline safety through a public process that elevates community input while encouraging major investment in the clean energy transition of our most fossil fuel intensive industries,” said Senator Henry Stern. “I am grateful to Governor Newsom for charting this new path.”

In 2022, the Governor signed SB 905 (Senator Anna Caballero) as part of the California Climate Commitment to encourage the development of these projects in California with the establishment of a comprehensive regulatory framework. SB 614 builds off this effort and supports these projects with the authorization to develop safe carbon dioxide pipelines from where the carbon is captured and removed to where it will be permanently stored.

In addition, SB 840 (Senator Monique Limón) allocates $85 million in the 2026–27 budget year from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) to advance climate-focused technological innovation, related research, and the deployment of climate solutions, such as carbon capture and removal projects.

The GGRF is supported by revenue generated from the state’s world-leading Cap-and-Trade Program, now the Cap-and-Invest program, which places a price on climate pollution. These efforts are examples of policy momentum aimed at fostering the decarbonized economy of tomorrow.

“Carbon capture is an important part of the climate puzzle – we need CCUS technologies to deliver on our climate goals and build California’s clean energy future,” said bill co-author Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris. “I’m grateful for the Governor’s partnership to ensure the safe deployment of carbon pipelines in California. SB 614 will accelerate California’s climate progress, spur billions of dollars in climate investments, and create thousands of high road jobs across the state.”

California’s Climate Leadership

Pollution is down and the economy is up. Greenhouse gas emissions in California are down 20% since 2000 – even as the state’s GDP increased 78% in that same time period, all while becoming the world’s fourth-largest economy.

The state also continues to set clean energy records. California was powered by two-thirds clean energy in 2023, the latest year for which data is available – the largest economy in the world to achieve this level of clean energy. The state has run on 100% clean electricity for some part of the day almost every day this year.

Since the beginning of the Newsom Administration, battery storage is up to over 15,000 megawatts – a 1,900%+ increase – and over 30,000 megawatts of new resources have been added to the electric grid.