California Lawmakers Making a Strong Push to Ban Hydraulic Fracturing
Environmental and Policy Focus - California sets reduction targets for black carbon, other climate pollutants - San Diego Union-Tribune - Sep 19 - Governor Jerry Brown on Monday signed into law Senate Bill...more
Environmental and Policy Focus - Federal Plan divvies up California desert for conservation and energy projects - ABC News - Sep 14 - Swaths of public land in the California desert will be opened to solar and...more
Renewable Energy Focus - California becomes a global laboratory in fight against climate change - Los Angeles Times - Sep 8 - California will become a petri dish for international efforts to slow global warming...more
Environmental and Policy Focus - Governor Brown signs into law two landmark climate bills - San Francisco Chronicle - Sep 8 - Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday signed SB32, the nation’s toughest climate law,...more
On July 14, 2016, the California Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) announced a “landmark set of regulations to strengthen workplace and environmental safety at oil refineries across the state.” The refinery safety...more
Public pension funds exist to provide retirement benefits to public employees. Cal. Const. Art. XVI, § 17(a). In 1992, the voters of California tried to eliminate political interference with the state’s retirement funds by...more
According to several news organizations, Governor Brown has announced plans to form a new panel to review the recent well stimulation study conducted by the California Council on Science and Technology (“CCST”)....more
On July 14, a complaint was filed in Sacramento County Superior Court against Governor Brown and the Division of Oil, Gas & Geothermal Resources (“DOGGR”) Supervisor Steve Bohlen. The lawsuit claims Governor Brown and...more
Environmental and Policy Focus - Crews struggle to clean up oil spill near Santa Barbara: KQED - May 21: Crews will begin excavating the 24-inch pipeline that ruptured Tuesday, unleashing a flow of crude oil that has...more
On March 20, Senator Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills) wrote a letter to Governor Jerry Brown requesting that his administration immediately shut down approximately 2,500 underground injection wells. The letter was signed by...more
Environmental and Policy Focus:Governor Brown issues executive order requiring statewide mandatory water restrictions - Allen Matkins - Apr 3: Responding to severely depleted water supplies and a record low snowpack at...more
Renewable Energy Focus - California Governor Brown calls for 50 percent renewables by 2030 - Greentech Media - Jan 5: California Governor Jerry Brown has upped the ante on the state’s green energy goals, calling...more
INTRODUCTION - In his January 2015 inaugural address, California Governor Brown called for an ambitious expansion of the State’s renewable energy goals to 50% by 2030, a policy direction that may drive the State’s...more
California Governor Jerry Brown signed SB 4 on Friday, September 20, 2013, establishing a permitting system for fracking of oil and gas wells. (See September 23, 2013 post.) The state, through the Department of Conservation,...more
On Friday, September 20, 2013, just days after indicating his support for the bill, Governor Jerry Brown signed SB 4, which establishes a permitting system for the fracking of new oil and gas wells. The Department of...more