Infill Housing & Conservationists Finally Team Up
AB 68 represents long overdue legislation on where California should and shouldn't grow
A major new piece of housing and climate legislation was introduced in California this month, and it's been a long time coming. AB 68 (Ward) finally sets forth a powerful template for where the state should encourage new housing and where it should avoid planning for more, based on climate and environmental hazards. It represents the culmination of a long-sought alliance between major housing advocates like California YIMBY and conservation groups like The Natu...
CONTINUE READINGWhen Is It Legal to Consider Race in Regulating?
Two upcoming Supreme Court decisions will tell us a lot about the answer.
On Halloween, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in cases brought by Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) against Harvard and UNC. These cases seem likely to move the Court closer to requiring colorblindness. How would that impact EPA’s ability to pursue environmental justice? Based on comments of the Justices during the arguments in the Harvard and North Carolina cases, observers believe that the Court will sharply cut back on the use of affirmative action by col...
CONTINUE READINGProposed Legislation Would Make Groundwater Adjudications More Fair
Guest Contributors Adrianne Davies, Owen McAleer, and Gabi Rosenfeld explain AB 779, a bill they worked on with State Assemblymember Lori Wilson.
By Adrianne Davies, Owen McAleer, and Gabi Rosenfeld California’s groundwater adjudication process is complex and inaccessible for many water users. As students in UCLA Law’s California Environmental Legislation and Policy Clinic, we partnered with State Assemblymember Lori Wilson’s office to find ways to improve this process. This project resulted in the introduction of AB 779, which will be heard this week by the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Comm...
CONTINUE READINGNot Quite a “Windfall Tax”
SBX1-2 passes out of the California Senate... but won't get Californians their money back.
As Californians endured staggering prices at the gas pump during the summer and fall of 2022—in excess of $2 higher per gallon than the national average—Governor Newsom accused oil companies of “rank price gouging” and vowed to put money back in Californians’ pockets. He announced a special session of the California Legislature to address the issue, but then it was radio silence for months, leaving many to wonder whether the money would ever be “returned to t...
CONTINUE READINGA New Battleground in Big Oil’s War on Drilling Setbacks
Big Oil’s referendum on setbacks is the latest in a line of questionable signature-gathering campaigns. Would a new bill reform California’s referendum process?
Earlier this month, my colleague Beth Kent wrote a thorough overview of the referendum seeking to reverse SB 1137, a bill passed by the California Legislature establishing a 3,200-foot setback between new oil and gas wells and sensitive receptors, including homes, schools, and hospitals. That referendum (Ballot Measure 22-0006) will appear on the November 2024 ballot. While Californians patiently wait until then to cast their votes, SB 1137’s critical setback provi...
CONTINUE READINGDo Climate Change Cases Belong in Federal Court? The Biden Administration Weighs In.
In a very narrowly argued brief, the Administration calls for returning the cases to state court.
The Biden Administration, at the Supreme Court's invitation, has now filed a brief giving its views about current lawsuits against oil companies. The gist of the brief is that the cases belong in state court., and that the Court should let that happen rather than stepping into the litigation. The brief is right about that, and I’m sure the people suing the oil companies are glad to have the support. But the brief could have provided more full-throated support of the la...
CONTINUE READINGThe IPCC Should Just Say 1.5 C is Dead
The big takeaway from the IPCC’s latest report is that we’re still falling behind and must do hard things to catch up. It's time to communicate that differently.
“There is a rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a livable and sustainable future for all,” according to the IPCC’s AR6 Synthesis Report. That phrase spoke to the parent in me, though maybe not for the sentimental reason you might think. Most mornings I find myself repeating some version of “there is a rapidly closing window of opportunity to get to school on time.” I walk my 7-year-old to school most mornings—a walk that takes about 20 minu...
CONTINUE READINGCleanup On Aisle NIMBY!!
The California Legislature's new duplex bill shows that lawmakers have had it with resistance to housing.
I wrote a few weeks ago on a Terner Center report concerning SB 9, California’s law allowing single-family lots to split and put in duplexes as a matter of right throughout the state. Essentially, the message was simple: localities were engaged in a Massive Resistance to the state mandates, throwing sand in the gears at ever opportunity. Manhattanization!!, the NIMBYs cried – because as we all know, Manhattan is known as the City of Duplexes. Well, the Legisla...
CONTINUE READINGHow Should We Implement the New Federal Climate Laws?
An upcoming symposium by the Emmett Institute will explore the key climate impacts of IIJA and the IRA and unpack some of the obstacles and controversies around their implementation.
This is the first of a series of posts previewing the Emmett Institute’s 2023 Symposium, coming up on April 12. Check out the second post, on transmission infrastructure, and the third post, on transportation; and RSVP for the Symposium here! The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 (IIJA) and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) represent a radical change in federal climate policy. A lot of this is the scale of funding—the two laws will spend m...
CONTINUE READINGLobster Wars
An industry lawsuit against Monterey Aquarium is a blatant assault on free speech.
The Maine lobster industry is suing the Monterey Aquarium for advising consumers to avoid Maine lobsters. This is “cancel culture” on steroids. The Aquarium has taken a stand the industry doesn’t like, so the industry is trying to silence it and its other critics. “Silencing” here is quite literal: the industry is seeking an injunction to gag the Aquarium. It would be hard to design a more blatant violation of the First Amendment. To begin with, you can’t ...
CONTINUE READINGJoin Our Mailing List
Climate policy is changing rapidly. Stay in the loop with expert analysis via email Monday - Friday.
