Region: California
Why are California’s Zero-Emission Truck Standards Under Attack?
They are highly effective, as CLEE’s new Factsheet series on Zero-Emission Trucks documents.
The world of zero-emission trucks is at a pivotal moment. On one hand, the technology is rapidly advancing, and manufacturers are producing a growing number of zero-emission truck models in Europe, China, and here in California. Yet on the other hand, this clean transition is facing significant political and legal challenges from the U.S. federal …
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CONTINUE READINGLeveraging Cap-And-Trade Proceeds for Long-Term Utility Bill Savings and Pollution Reduction
State leaders have an opportunity to expand the benefits with cap-and-trade reauthorization.
California’s decades-long role as a climate action pioneer is facing serious headwinds. While the Trump administration and its allies have launched a full-scale attack on clean technologies, state leaders are also wrestling with an electorate now more focused on lowering prices than environmental protection. Energy costs stand in the middle. This dynamic is playing out …
CONTINUE READINGWatch “Clearing the Air: The War on Smog”
LAPL
The American Experience’s “Clearing the Air: The War on Smog” tells an extraordinary story. It premieres on PBS this Tuesday.
A few years back, a colleague of mine, who I very much wanted to remain at UCLA, approached me because he was contemplating accepting an offer at a Washington, D.C. law school. He feared remaining in Los Angeles, even though he wanted to stay, because he didn’t want his young daughter exposed to the southland’s …
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CONTINUE READINGOwens Valley Redux: Los Angeles was Right
Far from a theft, the decision to divert water to Los Angeles made economic, environmental, and equitable sense.
I have a new piece out in The Urban Lawyer about the Owens Valley that might be of interest to Legal Planet readers. Here is an abstract: Everyone knows that Los Angeles stole its water from the Owens Valley, creating environmental devastation and a legacy of rapacity. It is such a commonplace that it needs …
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CONTINUE READINGState Agencies Respond to Trump’s EV Threats
A solid list of proposals – are they enough?
The Trump Administration and Congress have spent much of the year attacking vehicle electrification efforts–everything from executive orders threatening electric vehicle policies and incentives (in the name of promoting “true consumer choice”) and the repeal of vehicle emission standards (backed by false claims of consumer savings) to the elimination of EV tax credits and manufacturing …
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CONTINUE READINGWhy Does Misinformation Follow Extreme Weather?
The Drain is a weekly roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.
Nowadays when an extreme weather event strikes in America, what follows is a secondary emergency in the form of misinformation on social media. We’ve seen it play out after floods and heat waves, but this phenomenon really goes into overdrive after hurricanes and wildfires. A recent report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate looked …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Energy Secretary Pushes Pseudoscience
The Drain is a weekly roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.
Remember alternative facts? That catch phrase from Season 1, Episode 1 where Trump officials lied about the size of his inauguration crowd has now metastasized into a governing philosophy for how federal agencies plan to ignore, and ultimately exacerbate, the climate crisis. Trump 2.0 is pushing alternative science. Late last month, Energy Secretary Chris Wright …
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CONTINUE READING“Hi, Can you Hear Me?” A CPUC Debrief
The California Public Utilities Commission heard an earful about neighborhood decarbonization. Here’s the input from Californians who support climate action.
More people who want climate action should attend public forums like the ones that the California Public Utilities Commission held last Thursday regarding the selection of neighborhood decarbonization projects. More of us should sit on these calls and sign up to speak. Even if we aren’t party to a specific proceeding or don’t feel expert …
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CONTINUE READINGMayor NIMBY
Karen Bass’ blocking of duplexes in devastated communities is a nasty piece of plutocracy.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass gets a lot of unfair grief from the media and from Angelenos. Many criticized her for being out of the country when the Palisades Fire struck: but she was abroad in Africa representing President Biden (when in Congress one of her areas of expertise was Africa), and mayors do this …
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CONTINUE READINGFrom Sacramento to Geneva: Two Arenas Tackle Plastic Pollution
California considers adding microplastics to its Candidate Chemical List as delegates negotiate a Global Binding Treaty on Plastics in Switzerland
Last Monday, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) closed its public comment period on a proposal to add microplastics to its Candidate Chemicals List. Adding microplastics to this list would allow the State’s Safer Consumer Product Program to evaluate potential Priority Products that may contain or release microplastics. The Program works to make …
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