Land Use

If not at Yucca Mountain, then where?

Cross-posted at CPRBlog. Last August, Dan announced “The Death of Yucca Mountain,” pointing to a news story in which Senator Harry Reid ( D – Nev.) declared that he had dealt a fatal blow to plans to store high-level radioactive waste in a repository there. The Department of Energy sought to pull the plug on …

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Health Care Reform could help the environment

As Streetsblog noted, the newly-passed health care reform contains some grant money for nonprofits, Indian Tribes, and state and local governments to promote increased physical exercise and to create “the infrastructure to support active living.” Overall, this provision could provide local governments with extra money they desperately need to create more bicycle and pedestrian-friendly land …

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Can California handle high-speed rail?

Count me in as a high speed rail enthusiast. Who wouldn’t want to sit in a train car, sipping an ice-cold ginger ale, while traveling at speeds of up to 220 mph through the Central Valley? As Rick described last month, the potential benefits to our quality- and way-of-life, by encouraging more pedestrian-focused neighborhoods and …

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Cul de Sacs are a Dead End

Cul de Sacs are a familiar feature of suburbia.  They are also coming under increasing attack, according to TNR: So, for instance, one study of the city of Charlotte found that places where the streets weren’t very well connected (thanks, in part, to the heavy use of cul-de-sac) required a lot more fire stations to …

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Singin’ the California Delta Blues (Muddy Waters Ahead?)

But there really is a California Delta, and it’s vitally important to the state’s water supply. It also raises major environmental issues. The struggle to manage the Delta has also given rise to one of the most ambitious experiments in collaborative governance anywhere — an experiment that had some successes but ultimately seemed to hit a brick wall.

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A new forest planning rule blog

Sharon Friedman, Director of Strategic Planning for the Rocky Mountain Region, USDA Forest Service, and Martin Nie, Professor of Natural Resource Policy, University of Montana, have launched a blog called A New Century of Forest Planning. It’s intended as a discussion forum for issues around the new forest planning rule, which the Forest Service recently …

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CEQA thresholds of significance for greenhouse gas emissions: a strange but good process

Way back in the old days, before 2006 and AB 32 (California’s landmark law limiting greenhouse gas emissions statewide), the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) was the critical tool to limit greenhouse gas emissions from projects around the state.  CEQA is the law that requires state and local agencies to assess the significant environmental impacts …

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Oil Shale, Greenhouse Gas, and Federal Lands

Back in 2005, a Rand report assessed the merits of pursuing oil shale (a rock formation particularly prevalent in the U.S.) as an option for extracting liquid transportation fuel. The authors said: “Heating oil shale for retorting, whether above ground or in situ, requires significant energy inputs. Over at least the next few decades, this …

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Schwarzenegger’s REAL Test on Climate

Like any Hollywood actor, and like any politician, Arnold Schwarzenegger likes to talk a good game.  And on climate, he talks a lot.  He loves to promote inconsequential gab-fests like the Governors Global Summit on Climate Change.  But when the rubber hits the road, will he actually, you know, do anything about it? Whether a bill …

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California Legislature may decide L.A. football stadium can go forward, despite allegations of inadequate environmental review

Great minds may disagree about whether a new professional football stadium (or team, for that matter) would be good for Los Angeles.  But a new last-minute bill that the California State Senate is considering today, which would eliminate further environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act for a newly-approved stadium complex in the City …

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