California
California Fines SoCal Gas for Corroded Pipe Casings
The CPUC issued the fine after finding dozens of violations
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) issued a citation for violations of a federal regulation on Southern California Gas Co. (SoCal Gas) totaling $2.25 million. The citation is based on forty-five violations of a federal regulation requiring that operators “take prompt remedial action to correct any deficiencies indicated by” external corrosion monitoring. According to the May …
Continue reading “California Fines SoCal Gas for Corroded Pipe Casings”
CONTINUE READINGFinding Least-Conflict Lands For Solar PV In California’s San Joaquin Valley — And Beyond
New CLEE report identifies 470,000 acres of ideal land for solar PV, with 4pm webex briefing with state officials
To achieve California and the post-Paris world’s climate goals, we’re going to need a whole lot more renewable energy. Given current market trends, much of it will come from solar photovoltaic (PV), which has gotten incredibly cheap in the last few years. But deploying these solar panels at utility scale will mean major changes to …
CONTINUE READINGShould California Recover More Energy From Municipal Solid Waste?
New Berkeley Law report explores policy options, with KALW radio show discussion tonight at 7pm
Every year, Californians send about 30 million tons of trash to landfills. While the state’s residents do their part to reduce, reuse and recycle, that’s still a whole lot of garbage. It’s not only a land use issue, it’s a climate change issue: as landfill waste decays, it emits methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. Many …
Continue reading “Should California Recover More Energy From Municipal Solid Waste?”
CONTINUE READINGThe Cap-and-Trade Auction: Still Not a Tax
Folks are talking again about whether California’s climate cap-and-trade auction is an unlawful tax, rather than a valid exercise of the state’s regulatory power to control pollution. The news hook for the revival of this conversation is a recent order, discussed below, from the California Court of Appeal to the parties in the court case where …
Continue reading “The Cap-and-Trade Auction: Still Not a Tax”
CONTINUE READINGOf sewage spills and citizen suits
New Berkeley Law report examines citizen actions addressing sanitary sewer overflows in California
(This post is co-authored with Nell Green Nylen and Michael Kiparsky.) Every day, Californians produce millions of gallons of wastewater. We tend to avoid thinking about what flows down our drains, but how we deal with sewage is a critically important aspect of public and environmental health. Most communities in California rely on an extensive …
Continue reading “Of sewage spills and citizen suits”
CONTINUE READINGSolving The Energy Efficiency Puzzle
New report recommends ways that California can encourage more private financing of energy efficiency retrofits
Much of our efforts to reduce carbon emissions involves fairly complicated and advanced technologies. Whether it’s solar panels, batteries, flywheels, or fuel cells, these technologies have typically required public support to bring them to scale at a reasonable price, along with significant regulatory or legal reforms to accommodate these new ways of doing old things, …
Continue reading “Solving The Energy Efficiency Puzzle”
CONTINUE READINGMitigating the Climate Impacts of Aliso Canyon
Staff from California Air Resources Board released the Draft Aliso Canyon Methane Leak Climate Impacts Mitigation Program last week. While the program has yet to gain approval by the Board, the final version will probably not change much. Overall, the Draft Program signals ARB’s desire to take full advantage of the political will and financial …
Continue reading “Mitigating the Climate Impacts of Aliso Canyon”
CONTINUE READINGUCLA Law and Berkeley Law Are Recognized Among Top Five Environmental Law Programs in New U.S. News Rankings
Environmental Law Programs Thrive in California’s Public Universities
I’m pleased to report that the environmental law programs at both UCLA Law and Berkeley Law are among the top five in the country, according to the new U.S. News and World Report law school specialty ranking for this year. Berkeley is ranked #4, and UCLA is ranked #5. (Technically, there are six top-five schools, …
CONTINUE READINGThe Devil is in the Design: Forming California’s New Groundwater Agencies
By Dave Owen and Mike Kiparsky
Cross-posting from the Environmental Law Prof Blog. This post was written by Dave Owen and Mike Kiparsky. It is based on a recent report, co-authored with Nell Green Nylen, Holly Doremus, Barb Cosens, Juliet Christian-Smith, Andrew Fisher, and Anita Milman. Not that long ago, the opening words of one of Joe Sax’s articles described California pretty well. “We Don’t …
Continue reading “The Devil is in the Design: Forming California’s New Groundwater Agencies”
CONTINUE READINGAnother California Regulatory Agency in Crisis: Southern California’s Air Quality Management District Fires Longtime Executive Officer
Barry Wallerstein’s Ouster from SCAQMD Signals Tilt Away from Protection of Public Health
In a move that shocked the environmental advocacy community and low-income communities of color that suffer most from the impacts of poor air quality in Los Angeles, the governing board of the South Coast Air Quality Management District fired its longtime executive officer Barry Wallerstein today, voting 7-6 in closed session to remove him from …
CONTINUE READING