Region: California
Clean Energy Data Legislative Briefing In Sacramento
Lunch event will be held on Tuesday, February 24th
UC Berkeley and UCLA Schools of Law will be hosting a free legislative lunch briefing next Tuesday on expanding access in California to clean energy data, the subject of the Knowledge is Power report that the law schools released last month. The energy data could include improved customer access to long-term usage patterns, utility statistics …
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CONTINUE READINGCalifornia Supreme Court to Decide Whether the Mining Law Preempts State Ban on Suction Dredge Mining
Court’s Decision May Affect State’s Ability to Regulate Activities on Federal Lands
The California Supreme Court recently accepted a case that may make it more difficult for the state to protect the environment from the damaging impacts of mining. At issue is the state’s ban on suction-dredge mining in streambeds. Californians engaged in suction-dredge mining have vigorously fought against the state’s ban, and a panel of the …
CONTINUE READINGRenowned Scholar Jim Salzman to Join UCLA Law, UCSB Bren School Faculties
I am thrilled to share the news that Jim Salzman is moving west to join the faculties of the Bren School at UC Santa Barbara and UCLA School of Law. Jim is currently the Samuel Mordecai Professor at Duke Law School and Nicholas Institute Professor at Duke’s School of the Environment but is moving this summer to become …
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CONTINUE READINGSolar Tariff Wars Heat Up
States that have helped boost rooftop solar installations through so-called net metering policies are beginning to scale back their subsidies under pressure from utilities. As ClimateWire reported today (here’s the link but it’s behind a paid subscription wall), Hawaii’s largest utility has just proposed rolling back the state’s net metering policy, joining Arizona, California, …
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CONTINUE READINGZero Trash
Using the Clean Water Act to Control Marine Debris in California
This post is cross-posted on EcoPerspectives, the environmental law and policy blog of the Vermont Journal of Environmental Law. Let’s talk trash. Human-generated stuff that ends up in the ocean, termed “marine debris” or “marine trash,” presents a critical ocean and coastal management challenge. Trash can be found on coastlines and in seawater worldwide, from …
CONTINUE READINGExpanding Access To Energy Information To Boost The Clean Technology Sector
Joint UC Berkeley / UCLA Law Report Released Today
California is poised for a major energy transformation in the coming decades, with Governor Brown pledging to put the state on a path to 50% renewables and 50% less petroleum usage by 2030. Achieving this transformation will require a robust and thriving clean technology sector, including renewable energy and energy storage developers, energy efficiency contractors, …
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CONTINUE READINGAmerica’s Future on the California Supreme Court
I’m not sure that anyone has pointed this out before: as of last week, when Justices Mariano-Florentino Cuellar and Leondra R. Krueger were sworn, the California Supreme Court does not have a single white male. I believe that that is the first time in US history where that has happened on a high court in …
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CONTINUE READINGCalifornia Finally Breaks Ground On High Speed Rail Today
Six years and many lawsuits and political compromises after voters approved it
It’s been over six years since California voters approved a bond measure to fund a two-hour-and-forty-minute Los Angeles to San Francisco high speed rail system. Today groundbreaking finally takes place in Fresno. In the intervening six years, lawsuits and political compromises have delayed the system and likely made the timetables promised to voters impossible to …
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CONTINUE READINGGovernor Brown Calls For California To Achieve 50% Renewables By 2030
Inaugural address has specifics for climate and energy policies
Jerry Brown was inaugurated today for his record fourth term as governor of California, and his address offered refreshing specifics on his environmental and climate goals: In fact, we are well on our way to meeting our AB 32 goal of reducing carbon pollution and limiting the emissions of heat-trapping gases to 431 million tons …
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CONTINUE READING2014: Happy Endings & Promising Starts
In most ways, 2014 was a good year for environmental protection, with progress on several fronts. True, there are warning signs for 2015 — primarily the Republican sweep of the mid-terms and the Supreme Court’s puzzling decision to review toxics regulations for coal-fired power plants. And of course, there were losses as well as victories, …
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