Region: California
California State Parks: What’s the Real Scandal?
Make no mistake: the disclosure last week that the California State Parks Department was sitting on $54 million of excess funds while claiming that parks all over the state had to be closed is a real hit. Parks director Ruth Coleman — actually, a talented and dedicated public servant — did the right thing and immediately resigned, …
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CONTINUE READINGDo “Green Homes” Sell for a Price Premium?
Yes. Nils Kok and I estimate a large 9% price premium for “Energy Star” certified California homes relative to similar homes that are not certified. If you like to read about the “green economy”, here is a free copy. This study builds on my recent work estimating the price premium for solar …
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CONTINUE READINGHigh Speed Rail’s A-Coming to California
With the California Legislature’s recent approval of the sale of voter-approved state bonds to fund high speed rail, it looks like the bullet train is actually coming to the state. Since voters approved the bonds in 2008, the economy has collapsed, and the details of the proposed route has made enemies out of many communities …
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CONTINUE READINGAssessing California’s cap-and-trade design
How vulnerable will California’s cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gas emissions be to market manipulation, noncompliance, and fraud? Will the program’s public auctions of allowances serve a critical regulatory purpose, or are they just a big money grab? With about four months to go before the highly anticipated first auction, these questions are important and getting …
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CONTINUE READINGCalifornia releases proposed rule to implement streamlining of environmental review for new California infill developments
As part of an effort to create more walkable, livable communities that reduce vehicle miles traveled and the greenhouse gas emissions that those vehicles generate, California is removing barriers to infill development. Our governor and legislature are trying to create communities of homes and retail businesses that are closer together and closer to public transit. …
CONTINUE READINGWhy Did Mono Lake Become a Cause Celebre?
Why did saving Mono Lake become such a potent political issue during the late 1970’s and early 1980’s? For a book I am currently writing on the case, that is a critical question. After all, hundreds of groups — hundreds of environmental groups — seek media oxygen for their cases all the time. Both nationwide …
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CONTINUE READINGLos Angeles Climate Change Adaptation
My UCLA colleague Alex Hall has released a high quality micro-geography report highlighting within Los Angeles variation in heat wave risk in the medium term future. I salute his efforts. This type of research is exactly what I expect more climate scientists to deliver namely high quality information that is correlated with what Mother Nature will …
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CONTINUE READINGC-Change.la and a Sea Change in Climate Change Communication
It has become increasingly clear that in order to address climate change effectively through carbon emissions reduction and adapting to new conditions, we will need new communication tools. Last week, I blogged about a new, groundbreaking climate impact study that projects the impacts of climate change on southern California’s communities at unprecedentedly high resolution. What …
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CONTINUE READINGSupreme Court Grants Review in Two Clean Water Act Cases From Ninth Circuit
This morning the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in two high-profile Clean Water Act cases from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The justices simultaneously denied review in a major federalism decision, also from the Ninth Circuit, involving an industry challenge to a California Air Resources Board’s regulation requiring ships to use low-polluting fuels near …
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CONTINUE READINGUCLA and City of Los Angeles Publish First-Ever Detailed Long-Term Climate Forecast for a City’s Neighborhoods
A team led by UCLA researcher Dr. Alex Hall has released a study that projects temperature trends by neighborhood within the Los Angeles region for the mid-21st century. The report is the most sophisticated regional study of climate trends that has ever been developed, and is based on climate modeling two orders of magnitude higher …
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