Region: California
Does AB 197 Mean the End of Cap and Trade in California?
Language Directs the Air Resources Board to Prioritize Direct Emissions Reductions
As Ethan’s post recounts, the California Assembly today passed AB 197, a bill linked to SB 32, which extends California’s climate goals to 2030 and requires emissions reductions by that year of 40 percent below 1990 levels (see my post from yesterday describing the bills and how they are linked). The passage of the two …
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CONTINUE READINGSB 32 Passage Great News But Legislature Needs to Pass AB 197 Too
AB 197 Would Curtail California Air Resources Board Power, Potentially Restrict Cap-and-Trade
Ethan reported the good news today that the California Assembly passed SB 32, legislation that would extend California’s landmark climate change legislation to 2030 and require deeper cuts in emissions. The original legislation, AB 32, required that California cut its emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. SB 32 requires that the state achieve a 40 …
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CONTINUE READINGLegal Analysis of CAISO Expansion
We don’t foresee changes to FERC jurisdiction or Commerce Clause validity
The California Independent System Operator — known as CAISO — is considering expanding its footprint to include Pacific Corp as a participating transmission owner. CAISO recently commissioned a study that Professor William Boyd of the University of Colorado and I authored, in consultation with Ethan Elkind of Berkeley and UCLA and Sho Sato Professor …
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CONTINUE READINGCalifornia’s Cap-and-Trade Program After 2020
ARB publishes draft climate regulations that would extend the program
Against a backdrop of complex Sacramento politics on the future of California’s climate regulation, the state’s Air Resources Board last week issued an initial draft of regulations that would, among other things, extend the cap-and-trade program beyond 2020. Does ARB currently have the authority to do that? Yes, probably. But it’s complicated enough to leave room for disagreement. Here’s one version …
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CONTINUE READINGDo water managers’ perceptions influence innovation?
New survey probes the innovation deficit
Climate change and population growth are rapidly increasing stress on our water systems, challenging their ability to deliver critical services. To respond to this, we need more than simple course adjustments in how we manage our water – we need entirely new paradigms that will improve resource efficiency and support more sustainable urban water systems. Considerable …
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CONTINUE READINGOak woodlands and wine
A recent controversy highlights the impacts of wine industry on native California oak woodlands
A popular San Luis Obispo county winemarker is suffering a backlash in restaurants after press reports that the winemaker bulldozed oak woodlands to expand production—possibly in violation of a county land grading ordinance. The dispute (as this Wine Enthusiast piece makes clear) is not a novel one. There is a long history of winemakers in …
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CONTINUE READINGThe National Park Service and Climate Change
Does the agency have the legal tools to respond to climate change?
This past weekend President Obama visited Yosemite, helping the National Park Service celebrate its 100th anniversary. As part of his remarks, the President noted that climate change is already causing major impacts on the resources in National Parks around the country—for instance, causing the disappearance of the glaciers in Yosemite and increasing fire risks in …
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CONTINUE READINGThe End-game for Diablo Canyon?
A landmark agreement supports the closure of a controversial nuclear plant.
Today’s announcement that the Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) has reached an agreement with several environmental and labor groups to plan for the eventual shutdown of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant is a stunning development, when viewed in an historical perspective. PG&E has agreed not to seek new licenses for its power plant that …
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CONTINUE READINGLet Us Now Praise Famous Plants
Taking environmental law education outdoors
Lawyers spend their lives among tree slices (using 20,000-100,00 sheets of paper per attorney annually), but distressingly little time among whole trees. This became evident when I hauled a class of bemused clinical environmental law students up a wooded slope near the UC Berkeley campus this spring for a lesson spanning ecology, agency jurisdiction, and …
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CONTINUE READINGRonald Reagan – Environmentalist Governor
Reagan’s record in California included major environmental achievements.
It may surprise you to learn this — it certainly surprised me. But Ronald Reagan has been called “the most environmental governor in California history — protecting wild rivers from dams, preserving a Sierra wilderness by blocking highway builders, creating an air resources board that led to the nation’s first auto smog controls.” This may …
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