SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California will begin regulating greenhouse-gas emissions tied to dairy cows and landfills under legislation signed Monday by Gov. Jerry Brown, escalating state efforts to fight climate change beyond carbon-based gases to include methane and other pollutants. 
 
 The law targets a category of gases known as short-lived climate pollutants, which have an outsize effect on global warming despite their relatively short life in the atmosphere. Environmentalists hope that tackling short-lived pollutants now would buy time to develop new and more affordable technology to reduce carbon emissions. 
 
 California has stoked a global reputation for its attempts to slow climate change through a combination of strict mandates against pollution and financial incentives for green technology. 
 
 The new law requires steep reductions in a variety of pollutants, including methane; HFC gases used in aerosols and air conditioning refrigerants; and soot, known as black carbon. It's tied to $90 million in funding for the dairy industry and garbage collectors. 
 
 "This bill curbs these dangerous pollutants and thereby protects public health and slows climate change," the Democratic governor said in a statement. 
 
 Republicans said the strict regulations will hurt agricultural businesses, despite concessions made to dairy farmers. 
 
 Dairy farmers will be required to reduce methane emissions from manure to 40 percent below their 2013 levels by 2030, with the help of $50 million from the state's fee charged to polluters, known as cap-and-trade. 
 
 The money will help a handful of them buy dairy digesters, which use methane from manure to generate energy that's sold to electrical utilities. 
 
 The law also allows the Air Resources Board to regulate cow flatulence if there's viable technology to reduce it. 
 
 The law "represents a direct assault on California's dairy industry and will hurt manufacturing by creating an arbitrary limit on natural gases which dissipate quickly," said Tom Scott, California director for the National Federation of Independent Business, a small-business advocacy group. 
 
 Lawmakers approved the measure on the last day of the legislative session after Brown negotiated a compromise with dairy farmers, some environmental groups and the bill's author, Democratic Sen. Ricardo Lara of Bell Gardens, almost exclusively with Democratic support. 
 
 "With these bold and ambitious goals, we'll continue to set the standard for climate policy worldwide," Lara said in a statement. 
 
 While some environmental groups supported the legislation, others were angry that Brown and Lara made concessions to ease the transition for the dairy industry, including postponing mandates until 2024. 
 
 The new law also pushes for a significant increase in composting to reduce organic waste, which emits methane when it breaks down in landfills. It calls for a boost of 50 percent within four years. 
 
 The governor and Democratic-controlled Legislature have significantly expanded the effort this year to combat climate change. Earlier this month, Brown signed legislation setting a new goal of reducing California's carbon emissions to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030. ||||| (Reuters) - California on Monday moved to restrict air pollutants from sources as diverse as diesel trucks and cow flatulence, the latest of several efforts in the most populous U.S. state to reduce emissions leading to climate change. 
 
 Dairy cows feed in Chino, California April 25, 2012. REUTERS/Alex Gallardo 
 
 Under a bill signed Monday by Democratic Governor Jerry Brown, the state will cut emissions of methane from dairy cows and other animals by 40 percent and black carbon from diesel trucks and other sources by 50 percent. The bill also mandates the state to reduce emissions of fluorinated gases, or hydrofluorocarbons used in refrigeration. 
 
 The measure comes on the heels of several climate-change bills signed in recent weeks by Brown, including one that by 2030 will mandate an overall reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to 40 percent below the level released in 1990. 
 
 “We’re protecting people’s lungs, their health by cutting out a poisonous chemical that comes out of diesel trucks,” Brown said at a signing ceremony in the Los Angeles suburb of Long Beach, where trucks at the nation’s largest port complex spew particulate matter, including black carbon, along clogged freeways, contributing to high rates of asthma and other conditions in some of the region’s poorest areas. 
 
 “It goes from some machine, into the air and into your lungs,” Brown said. 
 
 The pollutants targeted in the bill signed Monday differ from carbon dioxide and other pollutants associated with global warming in that they remain in the atmosphere a relatively short time. However, these emissions have heat-trapping effects, so reducing their presence can help fight climate change, Brown said. 
 
 In addition to black carbon, which comes from trucks as well as the burning of organic material and other sources, the bill also requires reductions in hydrofluorocarbons, used in refrigeration and to power aerosol products. 
 
 It would also require the state’s dairy industry, which produces 20 percent of the country’s milk, to find a way to reduce methane produced by cow flatulence and manure. 
 
 One technology for doing that is known as a methane digester, which turns the gas into usable fuel. Such equipment is expensive, however, which worries the state’s dairy farmers. 
 
 “This mandated 40 percent reduction in methane and 50 percent reduction in anthropogenic black carbon gas represents a direct assault on California’s dairy industry and will hurt manufacturing,” a small-business group, the National Federation of Independent Businesses, said in a news release. 
 
 But Brown said the mandates will lead the state to develop better technology and boost the economy. ||||| Calif., Gov. Jerry Brown, center, flanked by Senate President pro tempore Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, right, and Assemblyman Eduardo Garcia, D-Coachella, left, speaks during a news conference prior... (Associated Press) 
 
 LOS ANGELES (AP) — A decade ago, California vowed to dramatically slash greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. 
 
 With the nation's most populous state on pace to meet that target, Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday charted a new goal to further cut carbon pollution by extending and expanding the landmark climate change law. 
 
 It will "keep California on the move to clean up the environment," Brown said in a Los Angeles park before signing a pair of bills that survived heavy opposition from the oil industry, business groups and Republicans. 
 
 Experts said going forward will be more challenging because the new goal — to reduce emissions 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 — is considerably more ambitious and many of the easy solutions have been employed. 
 
 "The long and the short of it is that meeting the goal will require sustained regulatory effort across all sectors of the economy," said Ann Carlson, a professor of environmental law at the University of California, Los Angeles. 
 
 California is on track to meet the 2020 climate goal that called for reducing emissions to 1990 levels by restricting the carbon content of gasoline and diesel fuel, encouraging sales of zero-emission vehicles and imposing a tax on pollution. 
 
 The state plans to build on that foundation and ramp up other efforts including increasing renewable electricity use, boosting energy efficiency in existing buildings and putting 1.5 million zero-emissions vehicles on the road, according to the California Air Resources Board, which is in charge of climate policy. 
 
 Supporters overcame strong opposition from oil companies and other industry interests to pass the legislation a year after business-friendly Democrats in the Assembly derailed an even more ambitious proposal to limit the use of oil in the state. 
 
 The new law puts "very severe caps on the emission of greenhouse gases in California without requiring the regulatory agencies to give any consideration" to how it will affect the economy and residents, the California Chamber of Commerce said in a statement. 
 
 Manufacturers in California already have higher energy costs compared to counterparts across the country and setting a new climate goal without providing cost-effective options "contributes to an already challenging business environment for manufacturers," Dorothy Rothrock, president of the California Manufacturers and Technology Association, said in a statement. 
 
 Since California became a green leader by passing the climate change law a decade ago, the state has seen a flourishing clean-energy industry, said Carlson, the UCLA law professor. 
 
 "One big accomplishment to date of California climate policy is demonstrating that we can cut greenhouse gases and still achieve impressive economic growth," she said in an email. 
 
 Brown, a Democrat who has traveled the world promoting greenhouse-gas reduction efforts, issued an executive order last year setting the new 2030 goal. On Thursday, he also signed a companion bill that provides more legislative oversight of the appointed state air resources board and gives aid to poorer areas that lawmakers say have suffered the most harm from climate change. 
 
 Despite pushing the climate goals through, the centerpiece of the state's effort to combat global warming remains in jeopardy. 
 
 The law doesn't address the cap-and-trade program, which requires companies that spew greenhouse gases to buy pollution permits that are auctioned quarterly. The funds can be spent only on programs that reduce carbon pollution. After impressive sales early on, the last two permit sales have fizzled, prompting concerns that funding won't be available to continue programs in the long run. 
 
 With the uncertainty over the cap-and-trade program, the expanded climate change law "is a point on a map, but the roadmap to that point has not been filled in yet," Dan McGraw, a Houston-based carbon analyst with the ICIS trade publication, said in an email. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Associated Press writers Don Thompson and Juliet Williams in Sacramento contributed to this report. 
 
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 Follow Alicia Chang on Twitter: @SciWriAlicia ||||| SHARE COPY LINK Gov. Jerry Brown, signing Senate Bill 1383 on Monday Sept. 19, 2016 to reduce emissions of fluorinated gases, black carbon and methane, likened efforts to reduce climate change to the construction of Noah’s Ark. David Siders The Sacramento Bee 
 
 Gov. Jerry Brown, signing Senate Bill 1383 on Monday Sept. 19, 2016 to reduce emissions of fluorinated gases, black carbon and methane, likened efforts to reduce climate change to the construction of Noah’s Ark. David Siders The Sacramento Bee ||||| California regulators Thursday voted to cap the greenhouse gas emissions of the state's major industries and establish the nation's first broad-based carbon trading program.The move marks another bellwether moment for a state that has led in environmental policy, coming as national climate legislation to regulate greenhouse gases and curb climate change has stalled in Congress."This is an historic venture," said Mary Nichols, chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board, as the panel voted 9 to 1 to approve some 3,000 pages of regulations and supporting documents, crafted over three years of intense negotiations with businesses and public interest groups.Given the state's fragile economy, Nichols said, "most political people said we should do as little as possible as slowly as possible." Instead, she said, "we are being cautious and careful, but in the context of a very bold effort." Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger , a champion of a market-based approach to climate regulation, showed up partway through a 10-hour public hearing at the board's headquarters to applaud the agency's effort to develop trading rules for carbon emissions. "We have led the nation in developing green policies," he said. "And we have seen our green economy grow as a result."California's 2006 Global Warming Solutions Act requires the state to slash greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 — amounting to a 15% cut below today's levels.The complex cap-and-trade system is a centerpiece of the state's multifaceted plan. Already approved are rules to hike the fuel efficiency of automobiles, cut the energy intensity of gasoline and source a third of the state's electricity from renewable sources.More than 180 industry executives, environmentalists and concerned citizens testified on the trading regulations, which will limit emissions from 600 major industrial plants in the state. Representatives of the cement, electrical and agribusiness sectors picked apart aspects of the rules, as did forest conservationists, health advocates and anti-poverty lawyers.In the day's most contentious debate, more than a score of environmentalists and residents of Sierra Nevada communities showed up to protest provisions that would allow industrial plants to reduce their obligation to curb pollution at their own facilities by allowing them to purchase offsets from timber companies that pledge to tailor their practices to preserve more carbon in forests.Several board members sought to exclude a part of the regulation that allows parcels to be clear-cut and replanted. They were voted down, 7 to 3.The forest rules divided the environmental community, with such groups as the Nature Conservancy and the Environmental Defense Fund — both strong backers of carbon trading — siding with Sierra Pacific, the state's largest timber company, in support of the rule as written. Local activists from Sierra Nevada communities, backed by the Sierra Club, pleaded with the board to exclude any trading that could encourage clear-cutting and the replacement of natural forests with single-species plantations."We want California to be the leader on climate, not a laughingstock," said Addie Jacobson, a board member of the Sierra Nevada Alliance who said she spoke for 85 organizations.Only one air board member voted against the overall cap-and-trade program: John Telles, a physician who represents the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District. Telles said the measure would not protect low-income residents from energy price hikes. He also suggested that a carbon trading market would be open to "manipulation," as was the case with California's disastrous deregulation of electricity markets in the 1990s.Under the plan, the state would cap each industrial plant's emissions in 2012, gradually lowering the cap over the next eight years. Firms would be granted allowances for each ton of carbon dioxide they could emit.Many speakers at the public hearing criticized the board's decision to ignore its own economic advisory committee's recommendation to auction those allowances from the start of the program, rather than give them to industry and phase in auctions."Auctioning provides a sharper price signal," said UC Berkeley economist Michael Hanneman, adding that giving away allowances for free "risks granting windfall profits" to industry. ||||| From the Open-Publishing Calendar 
 
 From the Open-Publishing Newswire 
 
 Indybay Feature 
 
 Governor Jerry Brown Captures 2013 Cold, Dead Fish Award by Dan Bacher 
 
 Monday Jan 27th, 2014 7:44 PM 
 
 For his many crimes against fish and the environment, Governor Jerry Brown receives the "Cold, Dead Fish" award for the second year in a row. Congratulations, Governor Brown, for going out of your way to pollute and destroy California’s river, lake and ocean waters! 
 
 
 
 Photo: Governor Jerry Brown drinks water and breathes air just like the rest of us, but his horrible environmental policies sabotage laws protecting the water and air. Photo by Dan Bacher. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Governor Jerry Brown Captures 2013 Cold, Dead Fish Award 
 
 
 
 by Dan Bacher 
 
 
 
 The year 2013 was the driest year on record in California, with rivers such as the Capital City's American reduced to the lowest flows in decades. 
 
 
 
 Besides drought, the year was overshadowed by the amping up of Governor Jerry Brown’s Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) to build the peripheral tunnels to export water to corporate agribusiness and Southern California water agencies. The over 40,000 pages of the plan and environmental documents were released on December 13. 
 
 
 
 Meanwhile, the forces against the tunnels continue to build momentum, with a number of rallies and protests held against the plan during the year, culminating with a big protest of over 400 people at the State Capitol on December 13. 
 
 
 
 Other environmental crimes of note include the Westlands Water District’s unsuccessful litigation attempting to block the release of Trinity River water down the Klamath to avert a possible fish kill, the passage of Senate Bill 4 to greenlight fracking in California and the release of the fall midwater trawl survey documenting record low numbers of Delta smelt, longfin smelt and other species. 
 
 
 
 In addition, the export of massive quantities of water from Shasta, Oroville and Folsom reservoirs all summer resulted in extremely low lake levels, the violation of water standards protecting spawning winter run salmon on the Sacramento and the relaxing of Delta water standards. 
 
 
 
 To honor those who did the best to exterminate fish populations, violate the public trust and crush fishing rights in 2013, we are proudly giving out the “Cold, Dead Fish” awards for deserving individuals, elected officials, organizations and agencies. 
 
 
 
 We’ll start off with the “Foot in the Mouth” prize that goes to former Deputy Resources Secretary Jerry Meral, who became the focus of a huge controversy when he acknowledged on April 15, 2013 that "BDCP is not about, and has never been about saving the Delta. The Delta cannot be saved.'" 
 
 
 
 He made his controversial comments while speaking with Tom Stokely of the California Water Impact Network (C-WIN) in a private conversation after a meeting with Northern California Indian Tribes, as first revealed in Restore the Delta's "Delta Flows" newsletter. 
 
 
 
 After Meral made the revealing, candid comments, five Congressional Democrats - George Miller, Mike Thompson, Jerry McNerney, Doris Matsui and Anna Eshoo - called for Meral's immediate resignation. Meral rejected those initial calls for his resignation, but did resign from his position on December 31 to go work for the Natural Heritage Institute, a corporate “environmental” NGO, to promote the tunnels. 
 
 
 
 The Westlands Water District and San Luis Delta Mendota Water Authority filed a lawsuit in federal court in Fresno on August 7 in an attempt to stop increased flows on the Trinity River set to begin on August 13, a move that threatened to cause another fish kill on the river like that of September 2012. 
 
 
 
 The Hoopa Valley Tribe, Yurok Tribe and Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA) responded by intervening in the lawsuit in support of increased releases down the Trinity. Fortunately, Fresno Federal Judge Lawrence O'Neill Thursday on August 22 lifted a temporary restraining order blocking releases of cold water from Trinity River reservoirs intended to help migrating salmon avoid an Ich parasite infestation similar to one on the Klamath River in 2002 that killed over 34,000 adult salmon. 
 
 
 
 For their underhanded attack on salmon and other fish, the district and authority win the coveted “Unsuccessful Salmon Exterminator” award. 
 
 
 
 In yet one more example of the revolving door between government and huge corporations that defines politics in California now, State Senator Michael Rubio (D-Bakersfield) on February 22 suddenly announced his resignation from office in order to take a “government affairs” position at Chevron. 
 
 
 
 Rubio, who was leading the charge to weaken the landmark California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and make it friendlier to corporations, said he resigned in order to spend more time with his family. 
 
 
 
 Then on September 18, Governor Jerry Brown appointed Laura King Moon of Woodland, a lobbyist for the state’s water exporters, as chief deputy director of the California Department of Water Resources (DWR)! 
 
 
 
 Moon has been a project manager for the Bay Delta Conservation Plan since 2011 while “on loan” from the State Water Contractors, a non-profit association of 27 public agencies from Northern, Central and Southern California that purchase water under contract from the California State Water Project. 
 
 
 
 For their outstanding efforts to serve corporate interests at the expense of fish, rivers the oceans and the people of California, Rubio and King Moon are proudly bestowed the “Revolving Door of Corruption” award. 
 
 
 
 Catherine Reheis-Boyd, President of the Western States Petroleum Association, receives the “Toxic Avenger/Petro Princess” award for overseeing the removal of fishermen and tribal gatherers from vast tracks of California ocean waters as the Chair of the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Blue Ribbon Task Force for the South Coast while lobbying for the expansion of offshore oil drilling, fracking and the construction of the Keystone Pipeline. 
 
 
 
 Not only did these alleged “marine protected areas” fail to protect the ocean from fracking, oil drilling, pollution, military testing, corporate aquaculture and all human impacts other than fishing and gathering, but it was revealed by Freedom of Information Act documents in the summer of 2013 that the massive fracking of Southern California waters was taking place during the 8 years that Reheis-Boyd was serving on the task forces for the South Coast, Central Coast, North Central Coast and North Central Coast. 
 
 
 
 In 2013, the Obama administration continued and expanded the Bush administration war on salmon and other fish, as evidenced by the Bureau of Reclamation's sharp cut in reservoir releases that left the eggs of recently spawned fall-run Chinook salmon high and dry in the upper section of the Sacramento River from Redding to Chico. 
 
 
 
 Reclamation reduced water releases into the upper Sacramento River from 6000 cubic feet per second (CFS) on November 1 to 3750 CFS on November 25. Many fall run salmon built redds, in October and early November in the shallows during higher water conditions. 
 
 
 
 This carnage took place after a spring when nearly half of the winter-run chinook salmon perished in canals and drainage ditches in the Sacramento Valley and after a summer when the Department of Water Resources and Reclamation released massive quantities of water down Central Valley rivers to export to corporate agribusiness. For their efforts to destroy salmon and other fish populations, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation receives the “Rotting Winter Run Chinook” award. 
 
 
 
 The recent killing of salmon eggs takes place as the Obama administration continues and expands some of the worst environmental policies of the Bush administration, just as Governor Jerry Brown continues and expands some of the worst environmental policies of the Schwarzenegger administration. 
 
 
 
 The Obama administration's horrible environmental policies include backing the construction of two massive fish-killing tunnels under the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, promoting the privatization of fisheries through the "catch shares" program, and fast-tracking the approval of genetically engineered salmon for human consumption. 
 
 
 
 For his outstanding efforts to exterminate fisheries, President Barrack Obama is proudly bestowed the “Dead Fish President” plaque. 
 
 
 
 Many fish populations have collapsed to record low levels in the past few years, due to massive export of Delta water to corporate agribusiness, developers and oil companies under the Obama and Brown administrations. 
 
 
 
 The most recent salmon egg and fish carnage occurs as part of a larger ecosystem collapse, the result of a long history of water exports and poor water management by the state and federal water agencies. Since the State Water Project began exporting water in 1967, water exports have increased by more than 60% while outflow to the Bay has declined by more than 40%. 
 
 
 
 Since 1967, populations of Delta smelt are down 98.9%, striped bass 99.6%, longfin smelt 99.7%, American shad 89.1%, threadfin shad 98.1% and splittail down 99.4%, according to Bill Jennings, Executive Director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA.) Steelhead and winter-run salmon are down 91.7% and 95.5%, respectively. 
 
 
 
 This ecosystem collapse couldn’t have taken place without the active cooperation and collaboration of the California Natural Resources Agency, the Department of Water Resources and Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). For their role in continuing this ecosystem collapse, Department of Water Resources Director Mark Cowin, Natural Resources Secretary John Laird and CDFW Director Chuck Bonham win the “Extinct Delta Smelt" award. 
 
 
 
 Senator Fran Pavley gets the "Fracking Champion" prize for sponsoring the only fracking bill to emerge from the Legislature, an already weak bill that was further gutted by the oil industry at the last minute. 
 
 
 
 Senate Bill 4, the green light for fracking bill, will result in the expansion of the heavily polluting oil extraction process in California’s ocean waters and land where Monterey Shale is located. The toxic discharges resulting from fracking will pollute groundwater and streams and threaten already struggling anadromous and ocean fish populations. 
 
 
 
 On September 20, Governor Jerry Brown signed Pavley’s “greenlight to fracking” bill with poison pill amendments that make CEQA review of fracking permits optional and prevent imposing a moratorium on fracking for 15 months. He signed the oil industry-friendly bill after receiving at least $2.49 million over several years from oil and natural gas interests. 
 
 
 
 Besides the expansion of fracking, Brown’s horrible environmental policies include: 
 
 
 
 • Fast-tracking the $54.1 billion Bay Delta Conservation Plan to divert massive quantities of water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to corporate agribusiness, developers and oil companies. 
 
 
 
 • Pursuing water policies that resulted in the second lowest population levels of Delta smelt and American shad on record in the DFW’s fall midwater trawl survey, as well as the third lowest striped bass, the eighth lowest longfin smelt, and the fifth lowest threadfin shad indices. 
 
 
 
 * Trying to weaken or even eliminate CEQA, one of California's greatest environmental laws, to fast-track big developments for giant corporations. 
 
 
 
 • “Backing Theme Park” Wetlands: The Department of Fish and Wildlife under the Brown administration is letting the Annenberg Foundation bulldoze a section of the Ballona Wetlands to build an interpretive center and help with the “restoration” of the land around the center. 
 
 
 
 • Continuing Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's corrupt Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative, a privately funded process characterized by its numerous conflicts of interests, terminally flawed science, violation of the Yurok Tribe's traditional fishing and gathering rights, and failure to actually protect the ocean. 
 
 
 
 For his many crimes against fish and the environment, Governor Jerry Brown receives the "Cold, Dead Fish" award for the second year in a row. Congratulations, Governor Brown, for going out of your way to pollute and destroy California’s river, lake and ocean waters! 
 
 
 
 Nunes, McCarthy And Valadao are in the running for 2014 Cold, Dead Fish award! 
 
 
 
 While Brown easily cinched the "coveted" Cold, Dead Fish" award for 2013, he already faces stiff competition for the 2014 awards from Congressmen Devin Nunes, Kevin McCarthy, and David Valadao. 
 
 
 
 On January 24, the three Central Valley Republicans, with the support of House Speaker John Boehner, convened in Bakersfield to announce the introduction of legislation to suspend the Endangered Species Act, allow the fish-killing Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta pumps to operate “as long as water is available” and to halt the San Joaquin River restoration plan. 
 
 
 
 "This is nothing more than a blatant, short-sighted water grab, fueled by years of political contributions from huge growers in the Westlands Water District and the Kern County Water Agency to these Central Valley Congressional Representatives," summed up Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the Delta. 
 
 
 
 Then on January 27, the House Republican Leadership tried to insert a provision into the Farm Bill to divert Northern California water toward San Joaquin Valley farms. 
 
 
 
 Congressman John Garamendi (Fairfield, CA), a Member of the Agriculture Committee, said, “After two years of negotiations over a Farm Bill, trying to sneak a water grab into the bill at the last minute was grossly irresponsible. It could have scuttled the legislation.” 
 
 
 
 “Specifically, the proposal would have turned on Delta pumps this year and next year, setting the stage to suck the Delta dry. This provision arrived at the 11th hour of negotiations over the Farm Bill, which is expected for a vote this week. Luckily for Northern California farmers, fishers, and small businesses, this last minute attempt was unsuccessfull,” according to Garamendi’s office.
– California Gov. Jerry Brown kept up his assault on climate change Monday, pushing through a law meant to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions from dairy farms and landfills. "You know, when Noah wanted to build his ark, most of the people laughed at him?" Brown said, per the Sacramento Bee, adding that that ark saved Earth's species. "We've got to build our ark, too, by stopping ... dangerous pollutants." Brown's approval of Senate Bill 1383 goes after short-lived climate pollutants, which include methane, black carbon, and HFC gases, per the AP. Although these gases don't linger in the atmosphere, they still make people sick and hasten global warming due to their heat-trapping ability, per Reuters. "We're protecting people's lungs and their health," Brown said, per Courthouse News. One of the main methane culprits: manure. Per the bill, dairy farmers have to cut methane emissions to 40% below 2013 levels by 2030. Under a cap-and-trade plan, farmers will receive aid from the $50 million or so raised via polluter fees, which they can then put toward machinery that uses methane to create energy they can in turn sell to electric companies. The state's Air Resources Board can also now regulate bovine flatulence, as long as there are practical ways to reduce the cows' belching and breaking wind. Under the bill, emissions from HFCs also must be reduced by 40% from 2013 levels by 2030, while black carbon emissions will have to get to 50% below those levels by the same year. Composting also has to go up by 50% within four years to curb methane from organic waste. The state's head of the National Federation of Independent Business rails against the "arbitrary" limits and says they're a "direct assault on California's dairy industry," per the AP.