California
From Sacramento to Geneva: Two Arenas Tackle Plastic Pollution
California considers adding microplastics to its Candidate Chemical List as delegates negotiate a Global Binding Treaty on Plastics in Switzerland
Last Monday, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) closed its public comment period on a proposal to add microplastics to its Candidate Chemicals List. Adding microplastics to this list would allow the State’s Safer Consumer Product Program to evaluate potential Priority Products that may contain or release microplastics. The Program works to make …
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CONTINUE READINGGas Utilities Can Do Better on Neighborhood Electrification
The state’s largest gas utilities are trying to delay priority zones for decarbonization and to block public access to important data. The CPUC should push them to do more.
Last fall, I wrote about the promise of SB 1221, a law that created a pathway for the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to approve pilot projects that will support priority “neighborhood decarbonization zones” to transition away from building gas service toward zero-emissions alternatives, including electrification and thermal energy networks. Now, the gas utilities have …
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CONTINUE READINGCan Residential Electrification Support Energy Affordability?
New UCLA report illustrates potential savings across household types and energy upgrade scenarios, write guest contributors Rachel Sheinberg and Lauren Dunlap.
As the L.A. City Council considers repealing the city’s All-Electric Building Ordinance, reacting to the 2023 decision in California Restaurant Association v. Berkeley, new UCLA research suggests that electric buildings can save LA households hundreds of dollars each year on energy bills. Over the past decade, Los Angeles city leadership has put forth a suite …
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CONTINUE READINGChina is Kicking Our Ass at Our Own Game
The Drain is a weekly roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.
The first time I saw a Chinese-made EV on the road I was walking on a crowded sidewalk in São Paulo. It was a Saturday night this May, when the whole city seemed to be out enjoying the warm weather. A street rave took over an entire block so to keep moving, we pedestrians had …
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CONTINUE READINGCan States Rebuild the Barn?
Multistate compacts might be a critical way to help replace lost federal capacity – but we need more details.
A couple of weeks ago I asked how we can stand up institutions in light of the Trump Administration’s destruction of environmental agencies. As House Speaker Sam Rayburn famously said: “any jackass can kick a barn down. It takes a carpenter to build one.” And not a moment too soon. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has …
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CONTINUE READINGWorld’s Biggest Court Opinion on Climate
The Drain is a weekly roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.
For more than 24 hours last week, my social media feeds were a wall of jubilant reaction to the World Court’s big climate opinion. People who work on, and care about, the climate crisis needed some good news, clearly. That begs the question, is the advisory opinion really as big a deal as people wanted …
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CONTINUE READINGWe Built This City On Urban Form
California’s CEQA reforms will require rethinking how we code our cities
I am one of the relatively few observers who is not convinced that the California Legislature’s recent CEQA reforms are some sort of major transformation. They are a positive step toward building more housing in this state, but the idea that they will unleash housing construction and affordability is a classic case of overpromising – …
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CONTINUE READINGFilling the gaps from CEQA reform
California has long leaned heavily on CEQA to cover gaps in other environmental laws. That will have to change when we reform CEQA.
California has enacted a major reform for CEQA, creating a substantial exemption for infill urban housing. I’ve written why this is, on balance, beneficial for housing and the environment. But I also want to highlight a pitfall as the state continues looking at future reforms for CEQA. California has long relied on CEQA as a …
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CONTINUE READINGA Very Bad House Vehicle Pollution Bill
The Fuel Emissions Freedom Act may be a stunt, but it’s worth examining
It can be hard to keep track amid all the hair-raising developments in Congress and at the Supreme Court, but last week, a group of House Republicans led by Roger Williams of Texas introduced the Fuel Emissions Freedom Act, hot on the heels of the purported (illegal) termination of California’s vehicle emissions standard waiver. This freedom-to-pollute …
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CONTINUE READINGThoughts on AB 131
Overall a good bill, but the definition of natural and protected lands is inadequate
Governor Newsom is pushing for CEQA reform as part of approval of the state budget, and the result is two budget trailer bills, AB 130 and AB 131, that together provide some of the most significant changes to CEQA in many years. Overall, these are good bills. The changes are focused on facilitating development where …
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