California
How To Botch A CEQA Analysis
LA Metro’s draft EIR for the crucial Sepulveda Transit Corridor is thorough and careful, but it misses a key point: heavy rail is environmentally superior.
If you are from Los Angeles, you will get this. Q: What’s the best thing about the 405? A: Free parking. The 405 is the highway that runs down the west side of metropolitan Los Angeles, connecting the San Fernando Valley to west Los Angeles, down through the South Bay and into Orange County. Even …
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CONTINUE READINGWhat Have We Learned About Rebuilding from Fire?
Woolsey Fire survivors reflect on the rebuilding process and what might help rebuild more resiliently after the January fires.
When I first met Nicole Fisher in 2019, her property in the Santa Monica Mountains was nothing but a driveway and a pile of cement. I was interviewing the art teacher for a radio story about her family’s plans to rebuild after the 2018 Woolsey Fire that destroyed her home and hundreds of others in …
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CONTINUE READINGThe “Big Beautiful Bill” is One Damn Dirty Deal
The Drain is a weekly roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.
My family is about to take a road trip. Out our window we will see beaches, lakes, and a whole lot of public land that would be eligible to be sold off to developers and corporations under the recent version of a budget bill that Republicans want to rush through this week. Welcome to The …
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CONTINUE READINGCan Public Ownership Fix Our Electricity Woes? It’s Complicated
New UCLA report “Power Struggle: California’s Electric Utility Ownership Dilemma” by Sylvie Ashford, Mohit Chhabra, and Ruthie Lazenby
This post is co-authored by Sylvie Ashford and Mohit Chhabra. California’s investor-owned utilities (IOUs) are under intense scrutiny for causing deadly wildfires and charging some of the nation’s highest electricity rates. Adding to these challenges, IOUs are required to make significant clean energy and grid investments to achieve the state’s goal of a net zero …
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CONTINUE READINGImmigration Raids are an Attack on Climate
The Drain is a weekly roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.
It’s hard to watch the Trump administration test drive authoritarianism in California. Since the inauguration, I’ve found solace in slowly rewatching The West Wing, a good bedtime story for anyone who feels nostalgia for partisan politics of yesteryear. Anyone else doing this? It’s uncanny how my rewatching has lined up with real world events. In …
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CONTINUE READINGLast Year’s Climate Bond May Not Be What You Thought
While investing in important adaptation and resilience measures, Proposition 4 does less to create new clean energy infrastructure investments
Last year, legislators passed, the governor signed, and California voters approved, a ten billion dollar climate bond (the Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, Drought Preparedness, and Clean Air Bond Act of 2024, SB 867 (Allen), which appeared on the November ballot as Proposition 4). While the bond act’s full title largely tells the story of …
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CONTINUE READINGThe California Legislature Halftime Report
In a year defined by affordability and climate crises, several bills aimed to alleviate pressures on both fronts are advancing in the Legislature.
Thank you for joining me for the California Legislature Halftime Report, it is an exciting time of change with many updates to share. A new Senate President pro Tempore was just selected. I’m pleased to share that it is Senator Monique Limón (District 21), who I am personally pleased about this because she is my …
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CONTINUE READINGWhy Do Heat Pumps Have a Bad Rap? Lies
The Drain is a weekly roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.
I just listened to dozens of people tell me that heat pumps don’t work, may cause homelessness, and can bankrupt small businesses. This was shocking news to me, in no small part because I’m currently in the process of installing a heat pump in my condo. Obviously, I don’t want to waste money, sleep on …
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CONTINUE READINGWhy Did SoCal Air Regulators Reject Clean Air Rules?
SCAQMD’s failure to pass Rules 1111 and 1121 on water heaters and furnaces is a win for gas industry disinformation and a loss for public health.
After 6 hours of public comment and discussion in a packed auditorium, Southern California air quality regulators on Friday rejected a pair of proposals that would have reduced harmful pollution from gas furnaces and water heaters. I watched a livestream of the 6-hour meeting (and provided live updates and commentary on Bluesky). Here’s context and …
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CONTINUE READINGCould CA Local Agencies Replicate Past Federal Solicitation Approaches?
Innovative solicitation & contracting approaches may make offshore wind infrastructure projects work better for communities
Offshore wind is a nascent industry in California, and actions by the new federal administration are threatening to slow or halt the significant progress made in recent years. Despite these new federal policies, however, state and local leaders are planning infrastructure needed to launch the sector in California, including port facilities suitable for assembling and …
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