[Source: The New York Times] Rebuffing strong opposition from industry, California on Thursday adopted a landmark rule requiring more than half of all trucks sold in the state to be zero-emissions by 2035, a move that is expected to improve local air quality, rein in greenhouse gas emissions and sharply curtail the state’s dependence on Read More…
Newsroom
California re-evaluating its landmark climate strategy
[Source: CalMatters] California EPA Secretary Jared Blumenfeld laid out plans for re-examining whether the program is likely to meet its goals for reducing greenhouse gases. It signals a shift in the administration’s attitude and reflects problems posed by the pandemic-caused recession. As the coronavirus pandemic and recession hits California, the governor’s top environmental official has Read More…
State should protect essential businesses from frivolous and predatory lawsuits
[Source: CalMatters] The COVID-19 pandemic has created an extremely trying situation for essential businesses, which have stepped up in amazing and heroic ways to provide the goods and services that Californians rely on daily. But as the state eases quarantine restrictions and takes steps to reopen, essential businesses face yet another devastating threat to operations Read More…
Emissions are surging back as countries and states reopen
[Source: New York Times] After a drastic decline this spring, global greenhouse gas emissions are now rebounding sharply, scientists reported, as countries relax their coronavirus lockdowns and traffic surges back onto roads. It’s a stark reminder that even as the pandemic rages, the world is still far from getting global warming under control. In early Read More…
Rates likely to rise sharply: businesses may see hikes after vandalism, virus
[Source: Los Angeles Business Journal] While mass protests against police brutality were taking place just blocks away on May 31, two cars pulled up in front of Lana Negrete’s family business, the Santa Monica Music Center. People jumped out of the vehicles and ran into the store pointing guns and yelling threats at Negrete and Read More…
California DA‘s offices settle environmental protection action against CarMax Auto Superstores
[Source: 23ABC News/Bakersfield] Kern County District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer announced she and 16 other DA’s offices throughout the state have reached a $1,600,000 settlement in an environmental protection action case against CarMax Auto Superstores California, LLC. The action filed in the Orange County Superior Court accused the auto company of unlawful handling and disposal of Read More…
California’s gas tax is going up again. Amid coronavirus, some say now is not the time
[Source: Los Angeles Times] California’s gas tax is set to increase July 1, but some lawmakers are calling for a freeze on the higher levy, citing the financial burden of the coronavirus-spawned recession on millions of the state’s residents. The automatic increase pegged to inflation — the third increase in the last four years — Read More…
Will California voters support new taxes to avoid painful budget cuts?
[Source: KQED] When supporters of increasing commercial property taxes, reshaping property tax transfer rules and legalizing sports gambling began formulating initiatives to put before voters in November, California’s economy was riding high — unemployment was at historic lows and state coffers were flush with fat surpluses. With less than five months until Election Day, campaigns Read More…
As EPA steps back, states face wave of requests for environmental leniency
[Source: NPR] Some of the country’s most polluting industries have flooded state regulators with requests to ease environmental regulations, according to an NPR review of hundreds of state environmental records. Companies across the country say the pandemic is interfering with their ability to comply with laws that protect the public from pollution. State environmental authorities Read More…