Planetizen Newswire
Keep up with essential planning news and commentary, delivered to your inbox every Monday and Thursday.
Gov. Jerry Brown
While hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles are much less popular than their battery-powered siblings, California remains committed to the zero-emission technology, with three state agencies investing in and monitoring its progress.
CALmatters
Gov. Gavin Newsom pleased environmentalists by doing what his predecessor, Gov. Jerry Brown, refused – halting all new oil and gas fracking and placing a moratorium on another extraction method linked to a massive oil spill in Kern County.
Los Angeles Times
California's redevelopment program was killed during the budget fallout of the Great Recession. Now more state politicians see how tax increment devoted to development investments could be one tool int he state's affordable housing crisis.
Los Angeles Times
The plan to update the state’s water system has hit a major snag.
San Francisco Chronicle
Assemblymembers Phil Ting and Ash Kalra have reintroduced the Clean Cars 2040 Act with the goal of banning the sale of passenger vehicles powered by internal combustion engines by 2040, with the California Air Resources Board playing a lead role.
SF Gate
On the second day of the Global Climate Action Summit, co-host Gov. Jerry Brown signed 16 bills onboard a new plug-in hybrid electric ferry in San Francisco Bay to spur sales of zero-emission vehicles and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The Sacramento Bee
A three-day global summit on climate action in San Francisco, hosted by Gov. Jerry Brown, is unlike other international climate summits in that it features "non-state actors," such as governors, mayors, and businesses, rather than nations.
Los Angeles Times
As climate hawks gather in San Francisco for the Global Climate Action Summit that convenes Wednesday, Gov. Jerry Brown, host of the summit, is dogged by critics who can't distinguish between oil production and consumption.
CALmatters
Senate Bill 100 by Sen. Kevin de León has one more hurdle to clear before it becomes law. While the state's greatest climate challenge isn't electricity generation, it will be helpful as more motorists turn toward electric vehicles.
Los Angeles Times
An exemption to an existing law was removed Monday when Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill that affords tenants in rent-controlled buildings the same right to request electric vehicle charging capability as renters in unregulated apartments.
Office of Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. (California)
Energy stakeholders in California are watching five important bills to see which go forward with three weeks remaining in the legislative season. One would require the state to generate all electricity from renewable sources by 2045.
The Desert Sun
Conservationists got a little help from some perhaps surprising sources in winning a designation for the Mokelumne River as the latest Wild and Scenic River in California.
Water Deeply
It is possible to achieve state-mandated global warming reduction goals after all. The nation's first such goal, signed into law by Republican governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006, called for reducing emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.
San Francisco Chronicle
The revenue bonds would be funded from a millionaires' surtax, approved by voters in 2004, to pay for health programs, but not housing, for the mentally ill. Also on ballot: a $4 billion general obligation bond measure to fund housing for veterans.
Los Angeles Times
The initiative is much more than whether to repeal taxes and fees enacted by the passage of the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017 which brings in over $5 billion a year. The measure is a means to increase GOP turnout to retain House seats.
Los Angeles Times
With national media focused on individual candidates, propositions that dealt with park and water bonds, transportation spending, cap-and-trade, and rainwater may have been overlooked. Plus, a measure to increase bridge tolls in the Bay Area.
The Sacramento Bee
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt had announced the rollback of greenhouse gas emission and fuel economy standards on April 2. While the auto industry supports the move, not all auto executives agreed.
Los Angeles Times
The executive order calls for $2.5 billion for rebates and electric charging and hydrogen fueling stations, subject to approval by legislature. His earlier executive order called for 1.5 million zero-emission vehicles by 2025.
San Francisco Chronicle
Infrastructure, climate change, and natural disasters were among the themes of the California governor's final address to the legislature and public. Two of his accomplishments, high-speed rail and increasing the gas tax, face uncertain futures.
The New York Times
In a major blow to former President Obama's restrictions on offshore drilling in sensitive areas, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke announced that he would open the Outer Continental Shelf in four regions: Pacific, Arctic, Atlantic, and the Gulf Coast.
The Washington Post
