How SB 827 'Cleaved the California Environmental Movement'

Even before the bill was defeated, it exposed a major generational divide between anti-development environmentalists and their pro-density, pro-housing heirs.

April 23, 2018, 2pm PDT | Katharine Jose

Bernhard Richter

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Last week, the controversial California housing bill known at SB 827 died "quickly" but "not quietly" after a single hearing of the state senate housing and transportation committee.

But not before it drew enormous attention to a general divide, as Scott Lucas wrote in a lengthy San Francisco Magazine piece published the same day, and "cleaved the California environmental movement in two."

“On one side sits an older generation, forged in the small-is-beautiful battles of the ’60s and ’70s. On the other sits a younger group galvanized by fears over global warming and housing affordability. “

The article is worth reading despite the bill’s defeat, both because Scott Weiner—the author—has vowed to bring another version to legislature, and because the conflict at the core of the controversy will play out many more times as California (and to some extent, the rest of the nation) struggles with a serious housing shortage and meeting ambitious goals for reducing emissions.