AB 32

CA's Air Resources Board approved another 'first' - a low carbon fuel standard that will play a key role in meeting the state's aggressive climate action plan by reducing the carbon intensity of transportation fuels. Winners and losers are created.

William Hudnet, former mayor of Indianapolis, now with ULI, spoke at a gathering in Sacramento on the inevitable wave of urban infill, less auto-dependent development to come due to state climate protection laws AB 32 and SB 375, and regional plans.

This report takes a local perspective on CA's new land use law, in the context of two preceding environmental laws, CEQA and AB 32. While the former enabled activists to fight new growth, the pendulum has begun to swing toward developers.

In a move that will disappoint auto manufacturers and labor but was met with great applause by the environmental community, Obama has taken the first step to granting CA's request for a waiver so it can set its own, stricter emission standards.

In a surprising last-minute change, a new plan that outlines how California will reduce its greenhouse gas emissions does not include a concrete target for reductions attributable to less-sprawling land use patterns.

At a crucial two-day meeting, the California Air Resources Board may adopt, reject or modify two separate, landmark, controversial plans - one on climate change, the other on diesel emissions from trucks and buses.

The CA Air Resources Board unveiled its final ‘scoping plan’ to meet the climate change targets set in the landmark 2006 law, AB 32. Business groups condemned it for its costs while land use planners criticized it for not doing more to curb sprawl.

In what may be the silver lining of the current economic climate, high fuel costs and carbon restrained economies may spell the end for unsustainable planning and development patterns in California, according to Rick Cole, City Manager of Ventura.

Energy-efficient vehicles,buildings, appliances, low carbon fuels,and renewable energy took center stage in the Climate Change Draft Scoping Plan released June 26 by the CA Air Resources Board, a major step in meeting the landmark AB 32 climate goals

Bay Area political columnist Dan Borenstein examines long-term transportation data and concludes that driving will only increase unless politicians make driving more expensive and transit cheaper, a solution he regards as unlikely at best.