This week, California’s state legislature approved a bill requiring the state to get 100 percent of its electricity from carbon-free sources by the year 2045. It’s a landmark for power sector decarbonization, and if Governor Jerry Brown signs the bill, it will require a transformation of the state’s energy system. California already gets 29 percent […]
CalRecycle did not establish goals for the mattress program in three critical areas: increasing convenience for consumers, reducing illegal dumping of mattresses, and ensuring consistency with the State’s overall approach to waste management, which prioritizes source reduction. Although required to develop state goals for mattress recycling by January 2018, CalRecycle set goals that focus on […]
State lawmakers voted overwhelmingly on Friday to make it just a little bit easier for the Oakland A’s to build a new ballpark at the Howard Terminal site near the Port of Oakland. AB 734 would streamline the process for reviewing environmental lawsuits filed against the site. The Howard Terminal location is one of two […]
The state’s solar plants, for example, often pump out more electricity at midday than the grid needs. California still relies on natural gas power plants to supply electricity in the morning and evening, as the sun sets. But low wholesale electricity prices, caused in part by that daily flood of solar production, are making many […]
The state accounts for less than 1% of global emissions, so its climate heroism can have no serious effect on climate change, which the state’s politicians blame for wildfires and rising sea levels. Plus its cuts are partly illusory since they drive manufacturing jobs to other states, which then produce greenhouse emissions on California’s behalf. […]
Cannella read a list of the projects, most of them professional sports venues, that have received such favored treatment recently, to wit: “A Rams stadium in LA that never materialized; Farmer’s Field in downtown LA that never materialized; the Golden1 Center for the Kings basketball team in Sacramento; a Chargers / Raiders football stadium in […]
Trying to help 24 million people by imperiling 78 million people’s lives is a very poor policy. We’ve heard similar stories before: In a few short decades, climate policy has often created more damage than the benefits it attempts to deliver. Ten years ago, a biofuels craze swept rich countries with the full-throated support of […]
Three customers sat on Bottle & Barlow’s patio Wednesday afternoon, sipping cocktails and soaking up the last bits of summer sun. That was a crowd compared to the scene inside, where owner Anthony Giannotti was the only person left to cut hair. Giannotti’s entire seven-person staff of independent contractors quit rather be reclassified as employees, […]
General Motors Co.’s plans to ramp up electric-vehicle production in China were set back after the auto maker determined the Chinese-made batteries it intended to use failed to meet its own performance and safety standards during testing. GM was set to enter production next month on its plug-in hybrid Buick Velite 6, a local variant […]
The rules that determine who can legally work in an occupation and provide particular services—known as occupational licensure—affect a wide swath of workers and are important constraints on how the labor market and economy function. Despite a welcome increase in discussions of occupational licensing in recent years, and a body of research dating back decades, […]
While the next crop of luxury condo towers like 160 Folsom, which developer Tishman Speyer has branded as Mira, continue to rise in the fast-growing eastern end of South of Market, other approved housing projects across the city, like 2675 Folsom St., are stalled and on the market because of soaring construction costs and fees, […]
The Trump administration is accelerating efforts to pump more of Northern California’s water to farmers in the San Joaquin Valley, setting up a bruising conflict with state officials and environmentalists. As farmers and others prepared for a water rally Monday on the steps of the Capitol in Sacramento, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke sent a memo […]
The Trump administration is trying a bold new tactic to bring more water to Central Valley farmers — one that could come at the expense of millions of urban Southern Californians. In an unprecedented move, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation served notice to California officials Aug. 17, stating it wants to renegotiate a landmark 1986 […]
Perhaps the most ignored fact in our energy-environment discussion is the non-stop evolution of fossil fuel technologies, energy sources that have now been somehow deemed Public Enemy #1, despite the fact that they supply over 80% of the energy used in the world’s richest economies with the healthiest people. While it’s indeed true that renewables […]
Tesla reported second quarter results earlier this month. Despite losing $718 million during the quarter, Tesla shares rose 16 percent on renewed promises of profitability. Driven by government incentives and mandates, world automakers have announced big electric car introduction plans. But will any electric car firm be able to make money? . . . Plug-in […]