So, what do 496 MMT of greenhouse gases look like? The air resources board figures that just 1 MMT of C02 would fill 200,000 hot-air balloons. So, all of California's greenhouse gases for a year would fit into about 99 million hot-air balloons.

One of the most promising tools California has in its climate-change toolbox is AB 1493, also called the Pavley bill, after its author, former assemblywoman Fran Pavley. The Pavley bill requires that, by 2020, all cars and trucks sold in California emit 30 percent fewer greenhouse-gas emissions from their tailpipes. That's about 30 MMT-a whopping 17 percent of the overall goal of AB 32.

Some of the rules are on the drawing board already. The state's "Low Carbon Fuel Standard," called for in an executive order from [Arnold Schwarzenegger] earlier this year, could reduce California's total emissions by 10 to 20 MMT a year. California's laws requiring the state to use more renewable energy also should contribute to the reductions.

Bills
Emissions