Region: California
Mitigating the Climate Impacts of Aliso Canyon
Staff from California Air Resources Board released the Draft Aliso Canyon Methane Leak Climate Impacts Mitigation Program last week. While the program has yet to gain approval by the Board, the final version will probably not change much. Overall, the Draft Program signals ARB’s desire to take full advantage of the political will and financial …
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CONTINUE READINGCreating An Exit Strategy for Our Use of Natural Gas
To meet long-term greenhouse gas reduction goals, all fossil fuels have to go, even natural gas.
Coal is the climate’s Public Enemy #1. The use of natural gas has helped to ensure that the coal problem has not become even worse. Without natural gas, we would use more coal for space heating and for many more industrial processes than is currently the practice. Without natural gas, our reliance on coal for …
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CONTINUE READINGAnother California Regulatory Agency in Crisis: Southern California’s Air Quality Management District Fires Longtime Executive Officer
Barry Wallerstein’s Ouster from SCAQMD Signals Tilt Away from Protection of Public Health
In a move that shocked the environmental advocacy community and low-income communities of color that suffer most from the impacts of poor air quality in Los Angeles, the governing board of the South Coast Air Quality Management District fired its longtime executive officer Barry Wallerstein today, voting 7-6 in closed session to remove him from …
CONTINUE READINGLessons from Aliso Canyon, Part II
Leaks in Regulation
Today, Southern California Gas announced it has successfully and permanently stopped the methane leak at its Aliso Canyon storage site. This marks the (fingers-crossed) end of a multi-month environmental crisis in northwest Los Angeles, causing residents to move and schools to close. Earlier this month, I blogged about the possible lessons we could learn …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Tricky Problem of Cumulative Exposures
A new UCLA report finds reason to be concerned about cumulative risk, and notes that under CA law regulators are required to act
We are all exposed to hundreds, if not thousands of chemicals through consumer products, air pollution, drinking water, and occupational exposures, just to name a few. Yet chemicals and pollutants are largely assessed and regulated individually. Increasingly, environmental health professionals have been attempting to grapple with assessing the risk of exposure to multiple chemicals. New …
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CONTINUE READINGReflections on the Coastal Commission’s Implosion
The Implications of the Decision to Fire Charles Lester – and the Decision Not to Explain It
As Rick Frank insightfully discussed earlier this week, the California Coastal Commission has fired its former executive director, Charles Lester. Readers interested in more background information and analysis should read Rick’s post, as well as the excellent reporting by Tony Barboza and others from the LA Times. (And anyone who wants to hear about it …
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CONTINUE READINGCalifornia Coastal Commissioners Fire Executive Director Charles Lester
Personnel Dispute is Commission’s Biggest Political Controversy in Over a Decade
Following months of public controversy and a marathon 10 1/2 hour hearing Wednesday in Morro Bay, a closely-divided California Coastal Commission voted to fire its Executive Director, Charles Lester. The Commission vote to remove Lester was 7-5. Lester, who as Executive Director has led the Commission staff for the past 4 1/2 years, is the …
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CONTINUE READINGLessons from Aliso Canyon, Part I
Regulation of the Oil and Gas Sector
Since October 23, 2015, a leak in a natural gas well has been releasing methane gas near the Porter Ranch neighborhood of Los Angeles. Although methane is invisible and odorless, gas companies add odorants to alert people to leaks, and it is these additives, usually mercaptans, that experts believe are causing the physical effects suffered by …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Future of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant
A group of scientists, philanthropists, and self-identified conservationists weighs in.
The role that nuclear power could or should play in helping to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions is worthy of serious debate, but the latest nuclear-related front-page story in the San Francisco Chronicle is a head-scratcher. Above the fold, the headline reads “Nuclear plant’s surprise backers,” followed by the following subheading: “Environmentalists push for Diablo Canyon …
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CONTINUE READINGLegacy Goods and Environment Preservation
The value of some goods like wilderness today depends on their futures.
Normally, economists imagine, equal experiences become less valuable as they recede further into the future. But some types of goods don’t have that kind of relationship with future experiences. They can become more valuable as they extend farther into to the future. Take this blog post, for example. I’m really happy that you’re reading it …
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