Legislation
NEPA in the Supreme Court (Part II)
Here’s why the Supreme Court should reject radical arguments for limiting environmental impact statements.
Our last post explained the background of the Seven Counties NEPA case, which is currently pending in the Supreme Court. Today, we discuss the radical arguments that have been made in the case and why they should be rejected. NEPA requires that agencies consider the environmental effects of their projects, but the petitioners raise hairsplitting arguments to exclude obvious effects due to technicalities. Pleas for revising the law should be made to Congress, not to the Supreme Court.
CONTINUE READINGNo More ‘House of Horrors’ Thanks to These New Laws
Several California laws prohibiting dangerous chemicals from household products go into effect on or after January 1, 2025.
Halloween is the one time when we welcome ghouls, ghosts, and goblins coming to our homes (and, if your neighborhood is anything like mine, a variety of tiny superheroes). This season, however, the Legislature is dealing with a different kind of house of horrors: dangerous chemicals in everyday products that affect millions of Californians’ health. …
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CONTINUE READINGNew Environmental Laws Focus on Public Health
Many of the environmental-focused bills that the governor signed this year involve ways to alleviate the health disparities faced by frontline communities.
The California State Legislature is now finally in its off-season. Governor Newsom had until Monday, September 30th to sign or veto bills that the legislature passed and sent to his desk. In a final tally of bills, according to CalMatters, Governor Newsom vetoed approximately 18% of the nearly 1,000 bills that landed on his desk …
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CONTINUE READINGWe Need a Circular Economy for EV Batteries
California got close to making suppliers ensure EV batteries are managed responsibly at end of life. Here’s why 2025 should be the year California creates a circular economy for EV batteries.
California continues to make significant headway toward its target to eliminate in-state sales of new internal combustion engine vehicles by 2035. About one in five new cars sold in California are battery-powered. And it’s not just California: Battery-powered car sales are up globally, with projections showing 17 million will be sold worldwide in 2024. As …
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CONTINUE READINGClimate, Energy, and Environment on the Ballot
Ballot measures in Washington and California are especially important but others are worth noting.
The two biggest state initiatives are a $10 billion green bond proposal in California and a proposed rollback of Washington State’s new cap-and-trade program. The outcomes of these and other initiatives will provide a barometer of public sentiment on environmental issues.
CONTINUE READINGSB 1221 is Law. Time for Targeted Neighborhood Electrification.
This new California law will help build pilot programs for up to 30 neighborhood decarbonization zones to transition off gas.
Governor Newsom recently signed a bill (SB 1221) that lays the groundwork for a vital shift in California’s clean energy transition. The bill– by Senator Dave Min, with support from key decarbonization advocates–will create a pilot program at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to designate up to 30 “neighborhood decarbonization zone” projects. In these …
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CONTINUE READINGGovernor Newsom Should Veto These Four Bills
Four seemingly modest bills — AB 1122, AB 1296, AB 637 and AB 3179 — are sneaky legislative efforts to threaten California’s world-leading clean transportation investments.
This post was co-authored by Ruben Aronin, Principal of the Better World Group. With just weeks to go before November 5, all eyes are on the election, including what it means for environmental policy. And yet, one of the largest threats to California’s clean transportation leadership in recent history has materialized right under our noses …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Contract with America
Or, as some critics called it, “the Contract ON America.”
The Contract with America was the brainchild of Newt Gingrich. It was a turning point in American politics: moving the GOP from compromise to confrontation, nationalizing what had previously been locally oriented House races, and shifting the GOP far to the right. There’s a reason they call Gingrich the man who broke Congress.
CONTINUE READINGNew Law Reaffirms Local Authority to Ban Oil Drilling
AB 3233, part of a trio of bills that the governor just signed, paves a clear path for local phase-out efforts.
This morning, Governor Newsom signed a trio of bills—AB 3233 (Addis), AB 1866 (Hart), and AB 2716 (Bryan)—that will protect communities in Los Angeles and across the state from the harms of oil and gas production, the impacts of which are disproportionately experienced in low-income communities of color across the state. He signed the package …
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CONTINUE READINGA New Energy Project at UCLA Law
The Emmett Clean Energy Law & Leadership project will build a bridge between the existing expertise of UCLA’s energy law scholars and policymakers.
You don’t have to look beyond the front pages of newspapers, or beyond rooftops in your neighborhood to know that we are in the midst of a clean energy revolution, with renewable energy technologies dramatically decreasing in price and increasing in availability. These technologies promise to reduce energy cost burdens for households, as well as …
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