Climate Change
Certainty for the California Compliance Carbon Market
California’s signature climate program receives formal legislative extension through 2045.
As the California legislative session came to an end last week, Assembly and Senate leaders released a last-minute deal on formally extending California’s Cap-and-Trade Program for the next two decades through Assembly Bill (AB) 1207. The bill received the required supermajority vote on Saturday, September 13, and now moves to Governor Newsom’s desk for signature. …
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CONTINUE READINGCalifornia Must Invest in Climate and Communities to Drive Climate Progress
The state has pioneered an approach—what’s worked, and what’s next?
As solar and other climate infrastructure construction accelerates, and with Californians concerned both about the cost of living and about seeing local opportunities result from climate projects, the conversation about community benefits (commitments to hiring and other local investments made by developers in connection with new projects) has grown increasingly animated in California and even …
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CONTINUE READINGA Clear and Present Danger to American Health
We’re all – each of us individually — less safe than we were a year ago.
RFK Jr. is purging the government of anyone who actually believes in science. What’s happening to public health under his leadership isn’t unique. All across the government, Trump is at war with science, cancelling billions of dollars of biomedical, energy, and climate research; closing EPA’s science department; replacing hard scientific evidence with climate denial as official dogma. This is a recipe for disaster, like closing your eyes will flying a plane.
CONTINUE READINGCalifornia Issues the First State Guidance for Corporate Climate Risk Disclosure
CARB takes an important step in an emerging field of climate policy
The California Air Resources Board this week released draft guidance for corporate climate-related financial risk disclosure, providing some insight into what large companies will be required to report beginning in January 2026. This is a quiet but fairly monumental step in climate risk disclosure in the US, and a reminder of the power of state …
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CONTINUE READINGWhere Should The United Nations Move?
The Trump Administration has abandoned the world, and the world should return the favor — with a climate twist.
You might have missed it amidst the sewer hose of feces that Donald Trump’s regime is spraying on the nation and the world, but the United States announced last week that it will not extend a visa to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to attend the United Nations General Assembly. I’ve been a Zionist all …
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CONTINUE READINGThank You, President Trump, for Opening the Door to Carbon Tariffs
Democrats should make it clear that this will be on the agenda if the Supreme Court upholds Trump’s tariffs.
As a matter of policy, a border adjustment for carbon emissions is much more defensible than the kinds of tariffs that Trump is proposing. And conservatives need to know that what is sauce of the goose is sauce for the gander. Or to switch metaphors, liberals need to show that they’re willing to move beyond bringing baked goods to a gunfight.
CONTINUE READINGWhy are California’s Zero-Emission Truck Standards Under Attack?
They are highly effective, as CLEE’s new Factsheet series on Zero-Emission Trucks documents.
The world of zero-emission trucks is at a pivotal moment. On one hand, the technology is rapidly advancing, and manufacturers are producing a growing number of zero-emission truck models in Europe, China, and here in California. Yet on the other hand, this clean transition is facing significant political and legal challenges from the U.S. federal …
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CONTINUE READINGCan California Try Again with Vehicle Pollution Limits?
A new Sixth Circuit decision provides encouragement.
In May, Congress effectively killed the most recent efforts by California to clean up its vehicle fleet. Although many people seem to have assumed the contrary, this may not be the end of the road for California regulators. A new court of appeals decision is an encouraging signal that California may be able try again when the political forces in DC are less militantly anti-environmental.
CONTINUE READINGRight-wing populist environmentalism?
The future of environmentalism may include a right-wing, populist strain that is heavily NIMBY
While there is a lot of focus on left-wing NIMBYs in public discourse, there’s also a lot of right-wing NIMBY mobilization too. For instance, the conservative California city of Huntington Beach is leading the resistance to state efforts to require upzoning to facilitate housing. Conservative rural communities are often the locus of opposition to both …
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CONTINUE READINGLeveraging Cap-And-Trade Proceeds for Long-Term Utility Bill Savings and Pollution Reduction
State leaders have an opportunity to expand the benefits with cap-and-trade reauthorization.
California’s decades-long role as a climate action pioneer is facing serious headwinds. While the Trump administration and its allies have launched a full-scale attack on clean technologies, state leaders are also wrestling with an electorate now more focused on lowering prices than environmental protection. Energy costs stand in the middle. This dynamic is playing out …
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