Environment
CEQA
UC Berkeley Case Shows Why Comprehensive Reform Badly Needed to End CEQA Abuse
By Chris Carr The California Supreme Court last week declined to stay a lower court order in a case involving a housing and classroom complex under construction on the UC Berkeley campus. This will effectively shut the door to one of America’s finest public universities for thousands of prospective students. ...
Blog
Misplaced Priorities
There is much to lament in California and Los Angeles, but the Los Angeles Times recently chose to rub its knuckles Pelosi-style at the lack of focus on climate change in the city’s mayor race. “Neither Rep. Karen Bass nor developer Rick Caruso mention the issue of climate change on ...
Agriculture
Prop 12 puts food security, animal health at risk
Livestock raising has long been a complex and misunderstood issue outside the agricultural community. Large communal pens often are considered the most humane by casual observers, but they do not tell the whole story. That is the case with California’s Proposition 12. The legislation created problematic perimeters for housing of ...
California
Chris Carr Featured in Nor Cal Record in Article on UC Berkeley Case
By Sarah Downey Last week’s legislative action to exempt the University of California at Berkeley from a long-standing state environmental law, is raising questions about how the statute could be further reformed to help not just schools but a host of infrastructure, housing, wildfire protection, and other projects. What’s clear ...
Climate Change
States and Municipal Lawsuits Undermine Innovative Climate Solutions
Cities and states are attempting to set the nation’s energy policies through the judicial system rather than the appropriate legislative process. Dozens of states and localities including New York City, Baltimore, and various California cities have filed suits claiming that oil and gas companies should be held responsible for the ...
Blog
What’s Next for CEQA Reform After Berkeley Vote?
Responding to the public outrage, California lawmakers took unusually swift action in passing CEQA reform legislation this week. Senate Bill 118 responds to a CEQA lawsuit filed by a neighborhood group challenging a housing and classroom project under construction on the UC Berkeley campus. Earlier this month, the California Supreme ...
Blog
Here’s Something to Inspire A CEQA Overhaul
The California Environmental Quality Act, often used as a blunt instrument to crush needed housing development, has become a “Swiss cheese” law due to all the carveouts that have been created to allow favored construction projects to go forward while others are mired in bureaucracy and legal limbo. It’s another ...
Blog
Biden’s Non-Plan for Fighting Inflation
In a recent survey, Americans ranked inflation as the most urgent issue facing the country. So, our ears perked up when Pres. Biden began laying out his plan to bring down inflation in his State of the Union address. After listening to his speech, you can’t help but think that ...
Agriculture
Europe’s Alternative Reality for Reducing Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Popular wisdom is often wrong. Consider, for example, how it views organic agriculture, which has grown to a $48 billion a year industry in the U.S. Organic products are sold at outlets ranging from local farmers’ markets to large supermarket chains, and many people assume that there is something more natural, wholesome, ...
Business & Economics
The Problems with CEQA – with Chris Carr
The California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, is a 50-year-old law responsible for holding up many projects in the state due to its labyrinthian process and its vulnerability to lawsuits. Across the state, housing developments, schools, hospitals, even bike paths and wildfire mitigation efforts have been stymied by CEQA. Chris ...
UC Berkeley Case Shows Why Comprehensive Reform Badly Needed to End CEQA Abuse
By Chris Carr The California Supreme Court last week declined to stay a lower court order in a case involving a housing and classroom complex under construction on the UC Berkeley campus. This will effectively shut the door to one of America’s finest public universities for thousands of prospective students. ...
Misplaced Priorities
There is much to lament in California and Los Angeles, but the Los Angeles Times recently chose to rub its knuckles Pelosi-style at the lack of focus on climate change in the city’s mayor race. “Neither Rep. Karen Bass nor developer Rick Caruso mention the issue of climate change on ...
Prop 12 puts food security, animal health at risk
Livestock raising has long been a complex and misunderstood issue outside the agricultural community. Large communal pens often are considered the most humane by casual observers, but they do not tell the whole story. That is the case with California’s Proposition 12. The legislation created problematic perimeters for housing of ...
Chris Carr Featured in Nor Cal Record in Article on UC Berkeley Case
By Sarah Downey Last week’s legislative action to exempt the University of California at Berkeley from a long-standing state environmental law, is raising questions about how the statute could be further reformed to help not just schools but a host of infrastructure, housing, wildfire protection, and other projects. What’s clear ...
States and Municipal Lawsuits Undermine Innovative Climate Solutions
Cities and states are attempting to set the nation’s energy policies through the judicial system rather than the appropriate legislative process. Dozens of states and localities including New York City, Baltimore, and various California cities have filed suits claiming that oil and gas companies should be held responsible for the ...
What’s Next for CEQA Reform After Berkeley Vote?
Responding to the public outrage, California lawmakers took unusually swift action in passing CEQA reform legislation this week. Senate Bill 118 responds to a CEQA lawsuit filed by a neighborhood group challenging a housing and classroom project under construction on the UC Berkeley campus. Earlier this month, the California Supreme ...
Here’s Something to Inspire A CEQA Overhaul
The California Environmental Quality Act, often used as a blunt instrument to crush needed housing development, has become a “Swiss cheese” law due to all the carveouts that have been created to allow favored construction projects to go forward while others are mired in bureaucracy and legal limbo. It’s another ...
Biden’s Non-Plan for Fighting Inflation
In a recent survey, Americans ranked inflation as the most urgent issue facing the country. So, our ears perked up when Pres. Biden began laying out his plan to bring down inflation in his State of the Union address. After listening to his speech, you can’t help but think that ...
Europe’s Alternative Reality for Reducing Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Popular wisdom is often wrong. Consider, for example, how it views organic agriculture, which has grown to a $48 billion a year industry in the U.S. Organic products are sold at outlets ranging from local farmers’ markets to large supermarket chains, and many people assume that there is something more natural, wholesome, ...
The Problems with CEQA – with Chris Carr
The California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, is a 50-year-old law responsible for holding up many projects in the state due to its labyrinthian process and its vulnerability to lawsuits. Across the state, housing developments, schools, hospitals, even bike paths and wildfire mitigation efforts have been stymied by CEQA. Chris ...
