California
Accelerating Cost-Effective Green Stormwater Infrastructure: Learning from Local Implementation
A new Berkeley Law report
California decision makers focused on responding to the current drought might question whether stormwater deserves a slice of their attention right now. Although it might be tempting to relegate stormwater planning, management decisions, and infrastructure improvements to a back burner until drought concerns cool off, doing so would be counterproductive. Below, I explain why stormwater management is relevant …
CONTINUE READINGPrioritizing Livestock Emissions
How do you solve a problem like manure?
Under AB 32, California’s climate change law, “greenhouse gas” is defined to include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and some fluorinated gases. But the bulk of the state’s efforts to date have focused primarily on the first. CO2 is undeniably the primary offender: It accounts for about three quarters of annual global emissions, and is …
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CONTINUE READINGAB 32 and post-2020 climate goals
What does California’s Global Warming Solutions Act say about emissions after 2020?
I have heard some references, recently, to AB 32 “expiring” in 2020. It’s easy to understand where this idea comes from: California’s premiere climate change law was passed in 2006 and sets a goal for the state to return to 1990 levels of greenhouse gas emissions by a deadline of 2020. Moreover, one of the …
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CONTINUE READINGImproving Transportation Spending In California
Joint UCLA / UC Berkeley Law Report Released Today
California spends approximately $28 billion on transportation infrastructure each year. But are we spending that money as cost-effectively as possible? And given the major impact that transportation investments have on our land use patterns and the amount of driving we need to do, are we spending this money in ways that align with California’s environmental …
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CONTINUE READINGClean Energy Data Legislative Briefing In Sacramento
Lunch event will be held on Tuesday, February 24th
UC Berkeley and UCLA Schools of Law will be hosting a free legislative lunch briefing next Tuesday on expanding access in California to clean energy data, the subject of the Knowledge is Power report that the law schools released last month. The energy data could include improved customer access to long-term usage patterns, utility statistics …
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CONTINUE READINGThe California Supreme Court’s Unprecedented Focus on Environmental Law
California’s Highest Court Has Far More Environmental Cases Pending Than Ever Before in Its History
The California Supreme Court, perhaps the most influential state supreme court in the nation, has of late become unusually and intensely focused on environmental law. More than ever before in its history, the California Supreme Court currently has before it a large docket of environmental cases that, individually and collectively, promise to alter the legal …
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CONTINUE READINGCalifornia Supreme Court to Decide Whether the Mining Law Preempts State Ban on Suction Dredge Mining
Court’s Decision May Affect State’s Ability to Regulate Activities on Federal Lands
The California Supreme Court recently accepted a case that may make it more difficult for the state to protect the environment from the damaging impacts of mining. At issue is the state’s ban on suction-dredge mining in streambeds. Californians engaged in suction-dredge mining have vigorously fought against the state’s ban, and a panel of the …
CONTINUE READINGRain-Free January Portends Continued California Drought of Increased Severity
Severe Reduction in Sierra Snowpack Another Sign That State’s Worst Drought Just Gets Worse
January 2015 ends with a most dubious distinction: it’s been the driest January in recorded California history. That’s especially bad news, considering that January has traditionally been the wettest month of the year in the Golden State. According to National Weather Service and California Department of Water Resources (DWR) statistics, the alarming precipitation figures for Northern …
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CONTINUE READINGCelebrating Four Decades of Energy Innovation: The California Energy Commission at 40
How California & the Commission Launched Their Acclaimed Energy Policy–& the Challenges That Lie Ahead
This month marks the 40th anniversary of California’s landmark Warren-Alquist Act, which created the state Energy Commission and triggered a transformation of energy policy in California, across the U.S., and abroad. This week an impressive group of energy policymakers, political leaders, energy scholars and Energy Commission alumni gathered at events in Sacramento and at the U.C. Davis …
CONTINUE READINGCalifornia’s Water Law Symposium–A Law Student Success Story
Students From Six Northern California Law Schools Collaborate in a Big and Unconventional Way
The 11th Annual Water Law Symposium was held last weekend at Golden Gate University Law School in San Francisco. The event drew a standing-room-only crowd of water law scholars, practitioners and policymakers, who devoted the day to a thoughtful and lively examination of how California’s constitutional law doctrine of reasonable use affects all facets of …
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