BACA and Data Centers, Part I
Ballot initiative may facilitate construction of data centers in California
As I noted in my initial analysis of the California Chamber of Commerce’s ballot initiative to rollback most of CEQA, one important point about the initiative is how many different projects are covered by it – despite the framing that it only covers “essential projects.” One kind of development project that is particularly controversial right now are data centers. The state legislature has been considering legislation that would (essentially) mandate the app...
CONTINUE READINGCPUC Proposed Decision Risks Derailing Gas Transition
California passed a promising Neighborhood Decarbonization Program. The CPUC’s plan for implementing SB 1221 sets it up to fail.
My UCLA colleagues and I have written extensively on the promising opportunity for SB 1221 to help interested communities transition off gas. Now, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has released its long-awaited proposed decision on its plans to implement the SB 1221 pilot program, and the proposal is…disappointing. The current design seems to set the program up to fail. Of biggest concern, the decision proposes to require pi...
CONTINUE READINGInforming Housing Policy Debates With The Latest Research
New CLEE "working paper" housing literature review
Housing is in short supply in states like California, leading to massive inequality, economic hardship, population loss, and climate impacts, as more residents live farther from job centers in climate-risky areas that require long commutes. Yet the debate around solutions to this problem, such as zoning and permitting reforms, are often colored by misinformation and a lack of evidence. To remedy that challenge, CLEE is today releasing an authoritative “working draft...
CONTINUE READINGThe GCF Task Force Expands at 16th Annual Meeting
Photo by Government of Caquetá, Colombia.
The Governors’ Climate and Forests Task Force has grown from 45 to 54 member jurisdictions to cover even more of the world’s tropical forests.
The world’s largest subnational network dedicated to protecting forests, reducing emissions, and enhancing livelihoods across the tropics just got a lot bigger. Following a vote at our 16th Annual Meeting in Caquetá, Colombia from May 18 - 22, 2026, the Governors’ Climate and Forests Task Force (GCF Task Force) grew from 45 to 54 member jurisdictions. We welcomed nine new members from Colombia (Amazonas, Guainía, Guaviare, Putumayo, Valle del Cauca, and Vaupés),...
CONTINUE READINGThe Environment Dies in Darkness
Suppressing the rights of free speech and association is deadly to environmental protection.
If I want to a pizza, that’s something I can handle on my own. If I want to protect a wilderness from oil companies, I can’t do that on my own. I must work with others, which means I need to be able to communicate and coordinate, however loosely, to reach my goals. I also need information about the threat before I can even think about responding. This can’t happen without freedom of speech and association. Yet those freedoms are under assault today as they ...
CONTINUE READINGCalifornia’s Density Bonus Works! And That’s Actually The Problem
A new study shows how increasing developer incentives can generate new units, but the state is digging out of a 50-year hole
Two contradictory things have been true of the YIMBY revolution in California land use law: 1) The California Legislature has been perhaps the most aggressive of any state in pre-empting local discretion to block housing, and giving new incentives to build; and 2) It doesn’t seem to have done much good so far. The classic example here is SB 9, which allowed property owners in single-family neighborhoods either to put a duplex on their lot by-right or split the...
CONTINUE READINGThink No One Writes Climate Songs? Here are 400
The Drain is a weekly roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.
You might assume most musicians are silent on climate change and the environment. But you’d be wrong. This Earth Day, I started a Climate Playlist because frankly I didn’t see many comprehensive ones out there. My first attempt was three dozen songs. But I got additions from readers, friends and colleagues and then I went down the rabbit hole of Reddit threads to find more. I’ve kept adding tracks here and there. My Climate Playlist is now more than ...
CONTINUE READINGA Compendium of Good News
Hey, it’s not all gloom and doom out there.
We don’t lack for bad news these days. Still, there are also good things happening. I’ve been putting together a list of things that are good news for the environment. So put on your happy face! Remember, as my grade school teachers used to say, it takes fewer muscles to smile than to frown. The sun shines bright over Texas. Solar will overtake coal on the Texas grid for the first time this year, a tribute to the explosive growth of solar power in the Lone Star ...
CONTINUE READINGKeeping the Energy Transition Affordable
A new CLEE report identifies policy solutions to lower California’s electricity rates.
In recent years, California’s already-high electricity rates increased far beyond the rate of inflation. Unsustainably high electricity rates threaten California’s continued progress on climate change and pose painful affordability burdens on California residents and businesses. High electricity rates also threaten California’s leadership in decarbonization and the clean energy transition, which largely relies on the electrification of multiple area...
CONTINUE READINGLegislating Sunlight Reflection in Latin America and the Caribbean
UCLA’s ESI Project co-hosted a science-policy dialogue with Latin American and Caribbean parliamentarians.
In early June, UCLA’s ESI Project, in partnership with the Degrees Initiative, had the exciting opportunity to address the Parliament of Latin America and the Caribbean (PARLATINO), on the emerging issue of Earth system interventions, notably sunlight reflection or SRM. As an interparliamentary body with broad reach, PARLATINO is a forum for legislators from the region’s 23 countries to discuss topics of mutual concern and collaborate on projects like developing ...
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