Defunding the Energy Transition
The President Proposes Deep Cuts to Climate and Clean Energy Spending for FY 2026
On May 2nd, the White House released what is generally referred to as a “skinny” budget request outlining priorities for discretionary spending for fiscal year 2026. A full federal budget proposal is expected later this month. The “skinny” budget contains, by the White House’s calculations, $163 billion in non-defense discretionary spending cuts, which it argues will generate trillions in savings over ten years. However, the budget also includes a 13% incr...
CONTINUE READINGThe Good, the Bad and the Utter Contempt
The Drain is a weekly roundup of climate and environmental news from Legal Planet.
The news this week has me remembering my grandpa teaching a young me to turn off the tap while brushing my teeth. (Hey, I was an ignorant East Coast kid.) This was in California’s Central Valley around 1990 when drought conditions flared and the federal government cut water deliveries. What was the news story? What if I told you there is a popular government program that costs less money to run than it saves American consumers on their utility bills? Oh, and t...
CONTINUE READINGCalifornia Lawmakers Vote on Energy Affordability Soon
Senate Bill 254 is the most ambitious energy affordability legislation proposed in recent years.
Energy affordability has been a huge focus in Sacramento as the deadline nears for bills to move out of policy committees. Over the past three years, customers of the largest investor-owned electric utilities (IOUs) in the state have seen their rates rise by an average of 5-41%, with nearly one in five households behind on their electricity bills. Over the past couple of years, policymakers have written reports, held hearings, and committed to the goal of reducing energy...
CONTINUE READINGPermitting Reform as Policy Stability
Compromise Congressional legislation could dampen the swings of Presidential regulatory policy
I’ve noted earlier the problems that rapid swings in regulatory policy at the Presidential level have caused over the past 12 years, swinging from Obama to Trump I to Biden to Trump II. And, as in so many other ways, the second Trump Administration is ramping up the swings to a whole new level, with aggressive efforts to short-circuit normal administrative law and judicial review processes to effect regulatory change (such as this proposed revision to the regulations...
CONTINUE READINGFix Our Forests, version 2
A revised bipartisan proposal in the Senate is a step forward in the right direction
I wrote previously about the Fix Our Forests bill which has been passed by the House and is currently being considered by the Senate. I noted some concerns I had about its overuse of emergency authorities, its expansion of categorical exclusions, and some changes to litigation, as well as some positive features of the bill. A new version of Fix Our Forests has been introduced in the Senate by a bipartisan group of Senators. This version keeps a lot that was good a...
CONTINUE READINGIf Dodgers Don’t Quit Big Oil, the Olympics May Make Them
The Olympic Committee’s ban on most advertising could finally force the Dodgers to drop the 76 sponsorship from Dodger Stadium, which is now an LA 2028 venue.
The Los Angeles Dodgers have all but ignored the growing calls from fans, activists, columnists, researchers, and a state lawmaker asking the team to cut ties with Big Oil and remove the two huge, orange 76 gas ads that dominate the club’s picturesque scoreboards. But the team’s streak may be coming to an end: They can't ignore the International Olympic Committee. When the Olympics come to LA in 2028, Dodger Stadium will be the official venue for baseball a...
CONTINUE READINGWillful Ignorance as Government Policy
The Trump Administration is systematically shutting down sources of vital information.
The Trump Administration is closing 25 scientific centers that monitor water levels across the U.S., which is vital information during floods and droughts. The centers also monitor aquifer levels and underground plumes of pollution. The government has canceled the leases for the centers, which will begin closing soon. Of course, this information is only significant if you think it’s important to deal with floods, droughts, and underground pollution. This is not an...
CONTINUE READINGModernizing Air Permitting in California
Guest Contributor Craig Segall writes that SB 318 would help clean up factories and other big industrial sources by pulling permitting practices into this century.
Almost every major industrial and power facility in California needs an air permit when it’s built or renovated. That’s a huge opportunity to rapidly advance the zero and near-zero technologies that Congress invested in in the Inflation Reduction Act, and that we urgently need to meet ever-more-pressing air quality challenges, especially as attacks from the Trump administration mount. But our tools are rusty: Unfortunately, the core of the laws governing permit r...
CONTINUE READINGGovernor Narcissist
Gavin Newsom's snub of LA Mayor Karen Bass demonstrates that he cares about only one thing: himself.
Buried deep within Evan's morose but accurate roundup at The Drain lurked this item, which tells you pretty much everything you need to know about California Governor Gavin Newsom. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is in Sacramento lobbying legislators for relief money in the wake of January's devastating wildfires. She probably won't get close to what she wants: the state is facing a huge budget crunch and the federal government run by sociopaths is unlikely to help the ...
CONTINUE READINGThe Chutzpah is Stunning
The Trump Administration is suing to block state climate lawsuits based on Clean Air Act Preemption.
If nothing else, you have to give credit to the Trump Administration for incredible gall. Yesterday, the Department of Justice filed suit against Michigan and Hawaii seeking to stop those states from filing lawsuits against fossil fuel companies for climate damages. The fact that DOJ is seeking to prevent even the filing of the lawsuits — without knowing the basis for the states' claims — is pretty remarkable and unusual. But it's the substance of the suits th...
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