As the California Legislature wraps up its 2015 session this week, the hot topic is the fate of Senate Bill 350, which seeks to cut California's use of petroleum by half by 2030. That sounds like a steep cut, right? At least that's what the oil industry wants you to think, warning of gas rationing and mileage tracking. But the truth is that this goal is actually quite within reach. As the San Jose Mercury News' Paul Rogers reports:

"Yet lost in the debate are two key facts:

The state will get halfway to that goal even if it does nothing. That's because of federal rules put into place in 2009 by President Barack Obama to double the gas mileage standards for new U.S. vehicles to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025.

Second, the rest of the difference can be made up simply by enforcing -- and in some cases strengthening -- existing laws passed over the last 15 years to boost electric cars, promote mass transit and reduce the amount of carbon in fuels, according to experts who have done the math."

Read the rest, very enlightening.