What's next for CA's ambitious climate change plan

A sand berm created by city workers to protect houses from El Nino storms and high tides is seen at Playa Del Rey beach in Los Angeles, California on November 30, 2015 at the start of the COP21 conference in Paris. Some 150 leaders, including US President Barack Obama, China's Xi Jinping, India's Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin, will attend the start of the Paris conference, which is tasked with reaching the first truly universal climate pact, with the goal to limit average global warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), perhaps less, over pre-Industrial Revolution levels by curbing fossil fuel emissions blamed for climate change. AFP PHOTO / MARK RALSTON / AFP / MARK RALSTON (Photo credit should read MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images)

Governor Jerry Brown said he plans to sign legislation that would extend targets for reducing greenhouse gasses in California and boost oversight of the state's climate regulators.

The two bills, SB 32 and AB 197, are an ambitious step in the state's climate policy, often cited as one of the most aggressive in the nation. But the move has drawn criticism from some business leaders and Republican lawmakers.

"It sets the most aggressive mid-term target for climate pollution reduction in the United States," said Cara Horowitz, co-executive director of the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the UCLA School of Law. That target aims to reduce greenhouse gasses to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030, a more drastic cut than the state's current goal.

"The fact that it's the legislature setting forth this law makes it more enduring than Governor Brown's existing executive order," said Horowitz.