Region: California

Guest Bloggers Amy Vanderwarker and Kay Cuajunco: Equity at the Center: SB 775 and AB 378 Create New Path Towards More Equitable, Effective Climate Policy

By Prioritizing Equity, We Fight Climate Change, Improve Local Air Quality and Public Health, and Deliver Economic Benefits

California is at a crossroads in our strategy to fight climate change. With the current form of cap and trade due to end in 2020, our state is deciding to what extent carbon pricing will play a role in meeting the 2030 targets enacted in 2016, and if so, what the program will look like. …

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Where To Build Housing In California Through 2030

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California isn’t building enough housing to meet jobs and population growth, and what housing is getting built is happening too much in sprawl areas on greenfields. While this greenfield-focused development may please pro-sprawl conservatives, it will worsen traffic and air pollution and keep the state from meeting its long-term environmental goals. To discuss where and …

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Guest Blogger Dallas Burtraw: Three Revisions Not to Overlook in California’s New Cap-and-Trade Proposal, SB 775

The Proposal Would Eliminate Allowance Banking and Offsets, and Add a Border Adjustment Mechanism

The California cap-and trade-program is already the most rigorous and best-designed allowance market in the world. Its purpose is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. But now the program requires adjustments for political and legal reasons. These adjustments will be a vitally important legislative decision – for the state and the …

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“California Alone” Should Not Govern State Climate Policy

SB 775 Turns California Inward and Diminishes Its Role As Global Leader

Last week, Senator Bob Wieckowski (D-Fremont) introduced a new bill, SB 775, that would replace California’s cap-and-trade system with a new approach to regulating California’s greenhouse gas emissions beginning in 2021.  There is much to admire in the new bill, including an aggressive pricing approach that would ensure that California’s carbon price remains high.  The …

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The Future of California’s Greenhouse Gas Cap and Trade Program After 2020: A Conversation

Posts on Legal Planet Over the Coming Week, Linked Here, Will Address Pending California Legislation on Cap and Trade from Multiple Perspectives

This post is the preface to a series of posts by multiple authors (including guests) over the coming week (starting May 9) about the future of the state’s cap and trade program for greenhouse gases.  Two bills, AB 378 and SB 775, are being debated by the environmental and environmental justice communities, and our bloggers …

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Climate “Skeptic” Bret Stephens Cherrypicks Bad Climate Policies In The New York Times

Another misleading op-ed from the new columnist

Bret Stephens, the New York Times’ new columnist, got the climate change world into an outrage with his first column last week, which compared climate science to Hillary Clinton’s pre-election polling and argued for restraint from climate advocates. In his follow up column yesterday, he took a more measured tone, noting that he believes the …

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California Gov. Brown on Climate Efforts

“California isn’t resisting—we’re pioneering an intelligent path forward”

Yesterday’s session at the annual Navigating American Carbon World conference was a bit of a California lovefest, with relief and gratitude spilling over for the state’s leadership on climate policy.  The crowd was California’s choir, and Governor Jerry Brown delivered the keynote address to two standing ovations.  It’s rare to hear a politician sound, by …

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California’s Courageous Plan For Transportation Infrastructure Repair

Tough supermajority votes for legislators to raise gas taxes and vehicle fees

Two weeks ago the California legislature did what many have been hoping for at the national level: pass an infrastructure bill. The issue was the state’s nearly $60 billion backlog in deferred maintenance for our transportation infrastructure. But rather than deficit spend or raid other programs, the legislature took a politically brave step with SB …

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Court of Appeal Confirms California Cap-and-Trade is Not a Tax

It’s voluntary and it provides valuable commodities to purchasers

With the feds backsliding (or worse) on climate regulation, the efforts of California and other states to tackle climate change are especially prominent and critical. So it’s a welcome time for today’s good news for California climate regulators: The state court of appeal has rejected industry’s challenge to California’s cap-and-trade program.  That program is one …

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Where Should We Build New Housing In California To Meet 2030 Climate Goals?

New Report From UC Berkeley’s CLEE and Terner Center, Commissioned by Next 10, Released Today

California isn’t building enough housing to meet population growth, while the new housing that does get built is happening too often in the wrong places, like on open space far from jobs. Meanwhile, new climate legislation for 2030 will likely rely on the average Californian reducing his or her driving miles by allowing residents to …

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