California greenhouse gas emissions fall — but not by much

Despite California’s many efforts to fight global warming, the state’s greenhouse gas emissions rose in 2012, as a nuclear power plant shut down and the drought hit hydroelectric dams hard.

Data released by the state on Tuesday show that California’s emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases started falling again in 2013.

The state’s economy still pumped almost 460 million metric tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, according to the California Air Resources Board.

[...] the deepening drought continued to cut the output of hydroelectric dams, forcing utilities to rely more on power plants burning natural gas.

The amount of renewable power generated within the state surged, with wind power production jumping 32 percent and solar rising 13 percent, according to the air resources board.

State law calls for cutting the state’s greenhouse gas emissions back to 1990 levels — an annual total of about 431 million metric tons — by 2020.