California
The Unreasonable Risk of TSCA Reform
Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place
The Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act is no doubt generating significant conflict, including claims of undue industry influence, competing bills from prominent members of the same party, consternation among states, and divisions among health and environmental groups. And it may also be the closest we have gotten to TSCA reform—ever. …
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CONTINUE READINGCould California Supreme Court Review Of San Diego’s Transportation Plan Soon Be Moot?
Legislature may act this year to enshrine the 2050 greenhouse gas goals at issue in the case
As Rick blogged last week, the California Supreme Court on Wednesday granted review of San Diego’s weak transportation plan. I detail the history here, but basically San Diego’s regional transportation agency delivered a plan in 2011 that was supposed to comply with SB 375 (Steinberg, 2008), a landmark law linking transportation spending with long-term greenhouse …
CONTINUE READINGCalifornia Supreme Court to Decide Major CEQA, Climate Change Case
Justices’ Latest Grant of Review Continues Supreme Court’s Focus on Environmental Law
To paraphrase former President Ronald Reagan, there they go again. The California Supreme Court on Wednesday granted review in an important case at the intersection of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and one of the state’s most important climate change laws. The case, Cleveland National Forest Foundation v. San Diego Association of Governments, is the …
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CONTINUE READINGReferendum Politics: California’s Pioneering Plastic Bag Ban on Hold
Out-of-State Bag Manufacturers Succeed in Qualifying Referendum Measure for 2016 Ballot
California’s recently-legislated ban on disposable plastic bans–the first in the nation–will not take effect on July 1, 2015 as the new law mandates. That’s because industry opponents of the legislation have qualified for the November 2016 election a referendum measure that seeks to repeal the new law. Last fall I wrote on this site about …
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CONTINUE READINGLet’s Strengthen California’s Climate Goals
Tackling the post-2020 era
A few days ago, I wrote a post taking issue with the idea that AB 32’s emissions limit expires in 2020. Here’s a follow-up. Even with AB 32’s influence beyond 2020, California is right to want to do more. Through the leadership of Senators De Leon, Pavley, and others in the legislature, there’s a package …
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CONTINUE READINGAccelerating 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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