California Governor Brown seeks to raise state's renewable energy target to 40% by 2020

California's target of getting at least one-third of its energy from renewable sources by the end of 2020 is simply too low for Governor Jerry Brown. Last week, the governor signed off on legislation requiring California's utilities to turn to renewable sources for 33 percent of their total electrical output by the end of 2020, but in a letter addressed to the state's Senate, Brown claims that California should set its renewable energy targets even higher. The governor wrote:

I would like to see us pursue even more far-reaching targets. With the amount of renewable resources coming on-line, and prices dropping, I think 40 percent, at reasonable cost, is well within our grasp in the near future.

Brown did not specify when that 40 percent goal could or should be achieved, nor did he indicate whether he would propose legislation requiring utilities to reach that mark, but it seems clear that generating a significant amount of power from renewable energy sources will soon be one of the state's near-term goals.

[Source: SF Gate | Image: TFC187 – C.C. License 2.0]