Tech investors lobby to bypass environmental review for 'California Forever' project

Kate Wolffe and Yue The tech billionaires behind the proposal to build a new city in the Bay Area dubbed California Forever are renewing their efforts, lobbying for legislation that would expedite the environmental reviews necessary to move the project forward.

According to an article by Kate Wolffe and Yue Stella Yu in CALmatters, "The billionaires behind the project are seeking a deal to expedite environmental reviews of the development and, if necessary, bypass county restrictions on building by being absorbed into Suisun City boundaries." The project's backers have hired former state legislators to help make their case. 

As the authors explain, the vision for California Forever has changed through the years: "At first pitched as a walkable city with cottages, bike lanes and even a water park, the plan then added a major shipbuilding operation and, last summer, a significant manufacturing hub." Supporters say it would create an economic boon and bring roughly half a million jobs to California. 

To kick-start the project, the developers want to get approval to use a two-decade-old environmental review to begin the shipyard development. But opponents say the project would eat up vast regions of farmland and risk harming the surrounding ecosystem, which warrants an updated environmental impact report. "California Forever reported spending $90,000 lobbying the governor’s office and the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, GO-Biz, last year on 'federal shipbuilding activities and California business attraction and retention activities.'" 

State senator Christopher Cabaldon expressed skepticism about the number of jobs the shipyard proposal would bring, noting that Saronic, the shipbuilding company that would operate the new facility, is a leader in automation.