[Source: CalChamber] New regulations for safety in the workplace are in motion as Cal/OSHA looks to protect employees from detrimental effects of working near or around California wildfires. In this episode of The Workplace, CalChamber Executive Vice President and General Counsel Erika Frank and CalChamber Policy Advocate Robert Moutrie discuss proposed regulations that will require Read More…
Newsroom
Trump EPA rolls back Obama rule on coal-fired power plants
[Source: Associated Press] The Trump administration on Wednesday completed one of its biggest rollbacks of environmental rules, replacing a landmark Obama-era effort that sought to wean the nation’s electrical grid off coal-fired power plants and their climate-damaging pollution. Environmental Protection Agency chief Andrew Wheeler, a former coal industry lobbyist, signed a replacement rule that gives Read More…
L.A.’s slow buses aren’t just shedding riders, they’re becoming climate liabilities
[Source: Los Angeles Times] In the movie “Speed,” the inconceivable happens: Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves operate a bus during morning rush hour in Los Angeles maintaining a minimum speed of 50 mph. If this feat was implausible when the movie was released 25 years ago, it would be just about impossible today. Average bus Read More…
AB 161 is a waste of effort, it should be rejected
[Source: Los Angeles Daily News] Because lawmakers in Sacramento seem not to think they have anything better to do, they’ll be holding hearings soon on a new bill to force businesses to be digital receipt compliant. The legislation, Assembly Bill 161, has, as usual, the best of intentions. Paper receipts, of course, consume energy to Read More…
Statewide messages in aftermath of LA parcel tax’s defeat
[Source: EdSource] The rout of Los Angeles Unified’s parcel tax last week will reverberate beyond L.A. to other school districts that had hoped a victory in Los Angeles might signal that their voters, too, would consider higher school taxes. Think again, said Mark Baldassare, president and CEO of the Public Policy Institute of California, which Read More…
Conservative groups tell Congress: ‘We oppose any carbon tax’
[Source: The Hill] A group of 75 conservative organizations and leaders on Monday sent a letter to Congress expressing their opposition to a carbon tax, pushing back at an idea that has received support from politicians and policy experts on both sides of the aisle as a way to combat climate change. “We oppose any Read More…
Battle over science roils EPA
[Source: The Hill] Environmental Protection Agency is battling its own board of science advisers over its controversial plan to dismiss certain types of scientific research from consideration when issuing rules. A meeting this week between the agency and some of the nation’s top scientists highlighted the growing rift between the EPA and the scientific community, Read More…
Southern California’s most toxic polluters will pay more under air board’s fee hike
[Source: Los Angeles Times] Southern California air quality officials will dramatically raise fees on toxic polluters in an effort to make oil refineries, manufacturers and other industries pay a greater share of the cost of monitoring and regulating their most health-threatening emissions. The South Coast Air Quality Management District’s governing board voted 8-4 Friday to Read More…
More companies exit business-bashing California for business-friendly states
[Source: Joseph Vranich] If your business is in California and you’re wondering if companies continue to leave the state, the answer is, “Yes, and anecdotal evidence is that the numbers are growing.” Before I identify the latest companies to depart California – 24 of them, which I’ve learned about only within the last three months Read More…