California
Next steps towards clarity on data center water use
Governor Newsom recently signed AB 2619 (Papan) and AB 2469 (Papan), bills which will require data center developers to provide California with additional information about their potential and actual water usage. This is great progress, especially since the Governor vetoed similar legislation last year. And it’s not too early to look forward to further improvements. These …
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CONTINUE READINGAdvice for California’s Next Governor: Transportation
Recommendations from CLEE’s policy roadmap for the incoming administration
Tuesday’s elections delivered a nationwide sweep of results with positive potential for climate and environmental policy. The new Congress will have power to slow or reverse some of the Trump Administration’s attacks on federal clean air and clean water policy and the opportunity to reinstate some clean energy tax credits. State legislatures and governorships in …
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CONTINUE READINGShhh: The 2026 Midterms Were a Climate Election
The Drain is a roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.
The topic of climate change was mostly missing from the midterm campaign trail and yet the election results could go down as the biggest climate election in U.S. history. Both things can be true. Yes, mentions of climate change in 2026 were sparse on the campaign trail and they disappeared from press releases issued by …
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CONTINUE READINGSharing Our Advice with California’s Next Governor
Climate and Environmental Policy, Process, and Governance: Advice for California’s Next Governor
Over the past year, CLEE partnered with dozens of organizations and individuals to develop and share information on key energy, environmental, and climate change topics in California’s gubernatorial election. This work included co-hosting a forum with candidates in January focused on energy, environmental, and climate change topics; development of a series of policy briefs that …
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CONTINUE READINGGorsuch is (Partly) Right
Justice Gorsuch is wrong about the cure, but delegation has gotten out of hand.
Justice Gorsuch has made it a personal crusade to revive the nondelegation doctrine, in part because of concerns about the rising tide of presidential power. The nondelegation doctrine tries to limit the ability of Congress to delegate authority to the executive branch. That’s an unworkable solution, but Gorsuch is right that Congress has put far too much trust in the good faith and sound judgment of the President and his subordinates. That’s especially true of national security and emergency powers.
CONTINUE READINGBan The Palm?
Streets For All Wants To — But Is it More About Attention Than The Environment?
Nine times out of 10, when you see a graphic about Los Angeles, somewhere in it you will see a palm tree. It’s the iconic image of this city. When Walter O’Malley built Dodger Stadium, he made sure to include towering palm trees at the Stadium. The problem is that that’s mostly a lie. Palm …
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CONTINUE READINGI Skipped NY Climate Week and Read These Books Instead
The Drain is a roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.
Climate World descended on New York City this week for the annual mad dash of panel discussions, press briefings, newsmaker interviews, influencer gatherings, and sponsored parties that is NY Climate Week, but I stayed home and read books instead. To be more specific, I went to my local bookstore (Village Well in Culver City!) …
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CONTINUE READING“National Security” is Becoming a Punch Line
Whenever he wants to roll back environmental protections, Trump cooks up a new national security justification.
A recent NY Times article recounts how often President Trump has invoked national security. It earnestly dissects his latest and most absurd claim: that the Arc deTrump he wanted to build will be filled with snipers, ammunition, and drones. It turns out that the snipers would be in an excellent position to shoot out the crosses in Arlington National Cemetery but not to protect anything of strategic importance. The environment has been one of Trump’s most fertile grounds for pretextual national security claims.
CONTINUE READINGWhither the Governor’s Mansion?
Some big environmental battles are brewing in Sacramento. But where will the next Governor stand?
Those of you who tuned in to the extra-long season finale of my favorite reality TV show, the California State Legislature, on September 1 (a full half-day after session was supposed to end, mind you: Drama!) may have, as I did, audibly gasped at the moment when the Assembly simply declined to vote on a …
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CONTINUE READINGA summary of BACA
An overview of my analyses of Proposition 45
I’ve written a lot on the Cal Chamber sponsored initiative to dramatically change CEQA, BACA, which is Proposition 45 on this year’s ballot. Here are some key takeaways from what I’ve written, as well as links to the relevant blog posts. First, BACA will not just apply to CEQA. It broadly expands vested rights and …
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