California
Save the Monarch!
The plight of California’s iconic butterfly highlights the need to overhaul the state’s endangered species law
The Monarch butterfly is an iconic species for Californians. And it is heading rapidly towards extinction within the state, as the population counts for the California population this year indicate that butterfly numbers fell 86% in a single year, over a 99% drop since the 1980s, and the size of the population is now small …
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CONTINUE READINGWhat Does Trump’s “Waters of the U.S.” Rollback Mean for California?
It might not be what you’d think.
Last week, the Trump EPA announced its proposed rule to roll back the Obama administration’s 2015 “Waters of the United States” rule (“WOTUS Rule”). Early in his tenure, Trump had announced his intent to repeal and replace the WOTUS Rule, and the proposal is, as billed, an attempt to replace the existing WOTUS Rule with …
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CONTINUE READINGDeveloping Policy from the Ground Up
New article provides more detailed data and analysis of housing entitlement in the Bay Area
This blog post (and the underlying article) was co-authored by Moira O’Neill, Giulia Gualco-Nelson, and Eric Biber. Our team has released a new article on land-use regulation and housing in the Bay Area, building on our report from last February that explored the role of local law and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) on …
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CONTINUE READINGAuctioning the Upzone: A New Strategy for Inducing Local-Government Compliance with State Housing Policies
New White Paper by U.C. Davis Law Professors Recommends Market-Based Tool to Incentivize Intensified Urban Development in California and Beyond
(Note: the following post was co-authored by U.C. Davis School of Law Professors Chris Elmendorf and Darien Shanske; the white paper discussed in the post is their work product.) California’s housing policies–a topic that for years received precious little attention from state officials–has suddenly become the Golden State’s hottest political and policy issue. The California Legislature passed …
CONTINUE READINGCalifornia’s Proposition 6: Bad Policy & Nefarious Politics
Proposed Repeal of California’s Landmark “Gas Tax” Legislation Would Be Disastrous for State
Politicians don’t like to focus on infrastructure maintenance. It’s not sexy, doesn’t command media headlines, and captures little public attention. But maintaining a functioning, safe public infrastructure system is vital to ensuring a strong economy, protecting public safety and promoting long-term environmental goals. That’s why Proposition 6, a measure on California’s November 6th general election …
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CONTINUE READINGA Global Standard for a Global Problem
Emmett Institute Submits Comment in Support of CARB’s Proposed Tropical Forest Standard
The Emmett Institute submitted a comment to the California Air Resources Board (CARB) yesterday in support of its proposed Tropical Forest Standard (“Standard”). If approved, this Standard would provide CARB a set of criteria to follow when determining whether to trade tropical forest offsets between California’s Cap and Trade Program and a foreign emissions trading …
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CONTINUE READINGCEQA and Local Land-Use Regulations
California gubernatorial candidates debate the role of CEQA and local land-use regulations in the state’s housing crisis
The first (and probably only) debate in the California governor’s race happened earlier this week between Democratic nominee Gavin Newsom and Republican nominee John Cox. Appropriately enough both candidates were asked how they were going to address the state’s housing crisis. Newsom’s response was an ambitious target of 500,000 new homes/year through 2025 (far higher …
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CONTINUE READING“What stands in the way becomes the way.”
Using current climate policies to address future political barriers to more stringent policy
Countries around the world are struggling with the political and policy challenges of developing effective tools to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and decarbonize their economies. (See coverage here for Canada, and here for Australia.) Moreover, even these policy proposals are as of yet inadequate to accomplish the goals of limiting climate change to below two …
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CONTINUE READINGDoes California need “Trump insurance”?
State legislature nears decision time over SB 49, which could protect California against federal environmental rollbacks
This Sacramento Bee article is remarkable in describing how aggressively the Trump Administration is now going after California’s efforts to protect the state’s natural resources, including its water resources (see also this LA Times article). Interior Secretary Zinke is demanding that his agency look for ways to override California water law and force more water …
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CONTINUE READINGTrump administration and California are on collision course over vehicle emissions rules
Meredith Hankins and Nicholas Bryner co-author legal explainer for The Conversation
California and the Trump administration are going different directions on mileage standards. AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli Meredith Hankins, University of California, Los Angeles and Nicholas Bryner, Louisiana State University The Trump administration on Aug. 2 formally announced a proposal to freeze fuel economy standards and tailpipe emission standards for new cars. In addition, it is proposing …
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