Region: California

Funding dam removal

Many of you have probably heard of the settlement agreements in Klamath River Basin. For those who have not, the short version is that most participants signed two agreements: the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement and the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement. The Hydroelectric Settlement lays out a process that could culminate in the removal of four …

CONTINUE READING

A Roadmap for Sustainable Consumption

Individual consumption – including household heating and cooling as well as non-business transportation – creates roughly one-third of U.S. energy use and carbon emissions. It would feasible to reduce these emissions by twenty percent in a decade: there is a lot of low-hanging fruit yet to be picked. A range of individual actions, while seemingly …

CONTINUE READING

Los Angeles and Renewable Energy

Much to the surprise of many observers, including me, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (the country’s largest municipally-owned utility) has met its 2010 goal of providing 20 percent of its electricity from renewable sources.  I’ve written previously about the implementation problems LADWP and other utilities are likely to face in cutting greenhouse …

CONTINUE READING

UCLA Law releases new environmental blueprint for California

In the looming battle over California’s budget, will there be room for environmental protections?  What should Governor Brown’s top-priority environmental initatives be?  UCLA Law released today “An Environmental Blueprint for California,” giving our view of the priorities Governor Brown should focus on to ensure the state’s environmental health in ways consistent with its economic prosperity.  California faces difficult choices ahead.  …

CONTINUE READING

Governor Brown makes his first environmental appointments

Jerry Brown has hit the ground running not only in terms of budget work but in putting together his environmental policy team. Today he announced the re-appointment of Mary Nichols as Chair of the California Air Resources Board and the appointment of John Laird as Secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency. Nichols’ reappointment is …

CONTINUE READING

The Schwarzenegger Legacy: Environmentalism on the Cheap

As Californians say “hasta la vista, baby” to Governor Schwarzenegger this morning, media retrospectives have focused on his environmental accomplishments as one of his few positive legacies. Specifically, they point to his signing of AB 32, the landmark climate change law limiting the state’s greenhouse gas emissions. And Schwarzenegger himself likes to think of himself …

CONTINUE READING

What to Expect This Year in Terms of Climate Action

Although there will be many flashing lights and loud noises, 2011 will primarily be a year in which various events that are already in play evolve toward major developments in 2012. Litigation. The one exceptional major development in 2011 will be American Electric Power (AEP) v. Connecticut, the climate nuisance case that the Supreme Court …

CONTINUE READING

A big news week for the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta

This has been a significant news week for California’s delta. On Wednesday, California’s Natural Resources Agency endorsed a plan for a water tunnel system to bypass the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, coupled with a habitat restoration plan for the Delta.  Bettina Boxall’s story in today’s Los Angeles Times has the details.   Many environmental groups …

CONTINUE READING

California designates new Marine Protected Areas

The California Department of Fish and Game has created a new network of state-designated Marine Protected Areas, as Tony Barboza reported today in the Los Angeles Times. This action, controversial because of its restrictions on fishing in the protected areas, begins to fulfill the promise of California’s decade-old Marine Life Protection Act.  As this detailed …

CONTINUE READING

UCLA Law will host local government land use symposium on February 11

UCLA Law’s Evan Frankel Environmental Law and Policy Program is hosting a symposium about local government land use law on February 11, 2011.  This event, Local Agencies on the Cutting Edge – Emerging Challenges to Local Land Use Authority: Proposition 26, the Public Trust Doctrine, RLUIPA, and Takings Law, will focus on issues of practical …

CONTINUE READING

Join Our Mailing List

Climate policy is changing rapidly. Stay in the loop with expert analysis via email Monday - Friday.

TRENDING