California climate legislation

We Need a Circular Economy for EV Batteries

California got close to making suppliers ensure EV batteries are managed responsibly at end of life. Here’s why 2025 should be the year California creates a circular economy for EV batteries.

California continues to make significant headway toward its target to eliminate in-state sales of new internal combustion engine vehicles by 2035. About one in five new cars sold in California are battery-powered. And it’s not just California: Battery-powered car sales are up globally, with projections showing 17 million will be sold worldwide in 2024. As …

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Environmental Bills at the 10-yard Line

Now that the legislative session has wrapped, the ball is in the Governor’s hands. Here are some of the environmental bills he could sign by September 30.

The California legislative session wrapped up on Saturday, August 31st at midnight, with legislators working until the clock struck twelve. As usual, it was an exciting night to watch. Unlike most years, there seemed to be more of a rush at the end to reach agreement on some of the major issue areas, as well …

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California’s Climate Leadership: A Timeline

California embraced climate action 2002 and has never looked back since.

The Golden State has adopted a slew of climate change laws over the past twenty years, and an even greater number of regulations .  To help you keep track, here is a timeline of California’s most important actions. 2002    SB1078. California established first renewable portfolio standard (20% from renewables by 2010). AB 1493 (Pavley …

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The Year in California Climate Laws

The California statehouse

Looking back at California’s 2023 legislative session, our new environmental laws represent a solid step forward—bigger than expected.

If 2022 was a Rivian with all the bells and whistles, this past year was more a Ford Lightning. After a landmark 2022—a record $54 billion committed to climate spending and legislation that codified the state’s goals of carbon neutrality by 2045 and 90 percent clean electricity by 2035—a significantly gloomier budget forecast gave rise …

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California Passes Landmark Corporate Climate Transparency Bills

SB 253 and SB 261 would be first-in-the-nation laws meant to pull back the curtain on emissions and climate risks.

After a hard-fought battle, the California Legislature passed the second of two nation-leading corporate climate accountability bills yesterday afternoon. The bills, SB 253 and SB 261, are important transparency measures that would, for the first time, allow Californians to meaningfully assess the carbon footprint of thousands of companies—and what those companies plan to do about …

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BREAKING: SB 32 and SB 350 both pass in the Senate

Key elements of California’s new climate legislation package clear major hurdle

For those following the fate of this year’s suite of California climate legislation, Senator Pavley’s SB 32 and Senator De Leon’s SB 350 were brought to a vote in the Senate this morning and both passed easily.  I wrote about these bills here.  SB 32 would enshrine California’s goal, already set forth in executive orders, of reducing …

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