• Introduction
• Climate Change
• Our Low-Carbon Approach
  • Natural Gas
  • Energy Efficiency
  • Renewable Power
  • Innovation
• Our Actions/Impact
  • Our Emissions
  • Reducing our Operational Impact
  • Our Approach to Biodiversity

Climate Change

At Sempra, we are actively engaged in the dialogue on climate change and continue to advocate for sensible U.S. federal climate and energy policies to regulate and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We believe it is critical for the United States to establish a predictable price for carbon and couple it with a long-term commitment to energy-efficiency, renewable energy and a transition from coal to lower-carbon fuels such as natural gas. We think federal action will serve to lower greenhouse gas emissions, stimulate investments in new clean energy technologies and create new business opportunities and related job growth.

As part of our engagement on this issue, we lead an effort with the Business Council for Sustainable Energy to educate policymakers on the emissions-reducing potential of natural gas coupled with renewable energy.

In California, we support the implementation of Assembly Bill 32 known as California’s "Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006," which requires that California reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. In 2010, we joined environmental groups and clean-tech businesses in opposing Proposition 23 which would have suspended implementation of this law. It was soundly defeated at the polls, sending a strong message that the people of California want to continue as the nation’s environmental leader.

Our Position On Carbon Regulation

Our position on U.S. federal carbon regulation is based on these four principles:

• Revenues generated from any carbon regulation should be reinvested in clean energy infrastructure and not be used to subsidize high-carbon emitters like those that burn coal to generate electricity;
• Aggressive national standards for energy-efficiency and mandated increases in the use of solar, wind and other renewable sources of energy should be established;
• All emitters should pay the same price for each ton of carbon, regardless of location, and tradable rights to emit carbon should not be granted based on the historic emissions of any entity; and
• Any carbon-regulation mechanism should be efficient, transparent and objective.