California
The CEQA Exemption that Ate LA
A bold attempt to get a huge exemption from state’s marquee environmental law
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) is a state law that requires full analysis, public disclosure, and where feasible, mitigation of environmental impacts from state and local government projects, including permits for private development. I’ve written before about the problematic nature of exempting specific projects from CEQA. In general, my concern is that once you …
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CONTINUE READINGHow To Pay For Energy Efficiency Retrofits — Evening Conference At Berkeley Law On Sept 21st
Free event on Thursday, Sept. 21st from 5-7pm, will feature Energy Commissioner Andrew McAllister & Former FERC Chair Jon Wellinghoff
California has ambitious goals to make our existing buildings more energy efficient, through improvements such as wall and ceiling insulation and efficient appliances and fixtures. We simply cannot meet our long-term climate goals without more progress on this front. But these smart investments require upfront money, and it’s not clear yet how the state can …
CONTINUE READINGWebinar: Net Economic Impacts Of California’s Major Climate Programs On The Inland Empire
Free on-line event will take place on Tuesday, Sept. 12th, from 10-11am
Following the state legislature’s landmark approval extending California’s cap-and-trade program through 2030 by a supermajority vote, Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & The Environment (CLEE) and our research partners have completed the first comprehensive, academic study of the economic effects of existing climate and clean energy policies in Southern California’s Inland Empire. Together with …
CONTINUE READINGHigh Time to Fix California’s Affordable Housing Crisis
California Political Leaders Announce Historic Housing Accord
The Sacramento Bee reports that California Governor Jerry Brown and the Democratic leaders of the State Senate and Assembly have reached an 11th-hour agreement to address California’s chronic, steadily growing affordable housing crisis. (The California Legislature’s 2017 session concludes in mid-September.) That’s good news indeed–and a most welcome (if overdue) proposed fix to one of …
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CONTINUE READINGDid The California Supreme Court “Rip A Huge Hole” In Prop 13 & 218?
New decision could lower voter threshold for local government taxes by voter initiative
UPDATE: This post has been modified from its original version to reflect some ambiguity in the court’s decision that I missed on first read. California local governments have long been stymied in efforts to raise taxes for basic infrastructure and services by California’s constitution. Two voter-approved constitutional amendments, Prop 13 and Prop 218, require that …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Trump Administration’s Arbitrary Review of National Monuments
Zinke’s review has been anything but transparent
Last Thursday, Secretary Zinke submitted a report to President Trump, recommending changes to national monuments. Although Trump’s Executive Order in April called for a “final report” within 120 days–the deadline was Thursday–the Interior Department’s press release called the report a “draft.” And as Holly Doremus explained on this blog, it has still not been made …
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CONTINUE READING200 Days & Counting: Environmental Threat Assessment
The Trump Administration presents a barrage of threats to the environment. Which threats are worst?
This is the last in our series on the state of play concerning U.S. environmental protection at this point of the Trump Administration. We can classify threats along three dimensions: the likelihood of harm, the seriousness and irreversibility of the harm, and the irreversibility of the institutional or legal change. Here’s an assessment of our …
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CONTINUE READINGCenter for Ocean Solutions Releases Consensus Statement and Report on the Public Trust Doctrine, Sea Level Rise, and Coastal Land Use in California
Report Analyzes State Public Trust Responsibilities on the Coastline, Coincides With Coastal Commission Staff’s Release of Draft Residential Adaptation Policy Guidance
UPDATE (September 1, 2017): The statement’s drafters have provided a link (shared at the end of the post) for California attorneys who wish to sign on to the statement discussed here. Last month, a group of public trust and coastal land use experts, working under the auspices of the Center for Ocean Solutions, released two …
CONTINUE READINGWhen are markets appropriate tools for sustainably managing groundwater?
New report from Berkeley Law’s CLEE outlines critical considerations for local groundwater markets under SGMA
Locals implementing California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) are rapidly turning from questions about who will manage groundwater and how they should approach institutional design to next-level questions: What does sustainability mean for a particular basin, and how will local managers achieve it? One of many potential management tools is a local groundwater market. SGMA opens the door …
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CONTINUE READINGNew Study: California Climate Policies Bringing Over $9 Billion And 41,000 Jobs To Southern California’s Inland Empire
Report commissioned by Next 10 and written by Berkeley Law’s CLEE and UC Berkeley’s labor center
With the legislature just passing a landmark extension of cap-and-trade through 2030 by a supermajority vote, attention now turns to implementing the state’s major climate programs to achieve the ambitious climate goals for that year and beyond. Critics frequently argue that efforts to fight climate change hurt the economy and cost jobs. Yet as I …
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