Climate Roundup: Air Board Adopts Rules to Extend Cap & Trade Program

CA Current

• The Buzz April 9, 2021
  A week after a national report found that the City of Los Angeles could be powered fully by renewables by 2035, the City Council gives SoCalGas’ Playa del Rey underground gas storage field the thumbs down. It’s a gesture welcome by clean energy advocates but holds little clout. Environmentalists call on the city council to […]
  Elizabeth Mc Carthy
• News Roundup: LA City Council Pressures SoCalGas to Close Playa del Rey Field April 9, 2021
  The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously April 7 to close the Playa del Rey underground natural gas storage facility owned by Southern California Gas. The Playa del Rey field is smaller but considered riskier than the Aliso Canyon gas storage field. The Playa facility, which is near the LA International Airport, is located in […]
  Elizabeth Mc Carthy
• Bioenergy and Efficiency Rebate Bills Pass Key Committee April 8, 2021
  The California Assembly seems increasingly interested in electricity made from different forms of so-called biowaste. Legislation to promote the use of bioenergy as an alternative to the open burning of crop and forestry waste passed the Assembly Utilities & Energy Committee April 7. The bill also would fund the reduction of methane releases from dairies […]
  Elizabeth Mc Carthy
• Cool Roofs for Dummies April 8, 2021
  Cool roofs use light-reflecting roofing materials or coatings and are a simple and accessible means for individuals and communities to directly reduce carbon emissions, energy costs, and urban heat island effects.  Source: Owens Corning cool roof Project Drawdown, a global effort to drawdown carbon emissions, estimates that cool roofs, along with green roofs (where roofs […]
  Elizabeth Mc Carthy
• JUICE: In Recall Election, Perception Matters, Will Reality Intercede? April 7, 2021
  Does a March report showing Los Angeles can achieve virtually 100% renewable energy as early as 2035 signal Gov. Gavin Newsom and his energy czars are ceding their leadership on a carbon-free economy? And would that perception dissuade environmental voters from supporting the governor in the upcoming recall election? Recent state decisions to extend the […]
  Elizabeth Mc Carthy
• Sonoma County DA Charges PG&E with Five Felonies April 7, 2021
  The Sonoma County District Attorney filed criminal charges against Pacific Gas & Electric April 6, alleging it ignited the Oct. 23, 2019, Kincaid Fire. It harmed six fire fighters, destroyed 374 buildings, and torched nearly 78,000 acres of land over a period of two weeks. The utility also was charged with causing air pollution through […]
  Elizabeth Mc Carthy
• Shorts April 6, 2021
  updated April 8 Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislators agreed on a $536 million “early action” fire prevention package. The package will fund the thinning of forests, fuel breaks around vulnerable communities and community hardening infrastructure to mitigate wildfire damage. “This year, we are budgeting more than $1 billion, with more than $500 million in early […]
  Elizabeth Mc Carthy
• The Buzz April 2, 2021
  Changes wrought by the pandemic upend the legislative session, once again. After little action on the committee hearing front for weeks, bill hearings are getting back on track. See the list of bills being taken up in the Assembly and Senate energy committees in this week’s Juice column. California Community Choice continues to grow, as […]
  Elizabeth Mc Carthy
• JUICE: Covid Wreaks Havoc on Legislative Hearings for a Second Year April 2, 2021
  It used to be, pre-pandemic, that spring was the time that numerous bills were vetted and voted on during weekly legislative policy committee hearings. Energy legislation was debated for hours, extending into the night from time to time. Rarely did they match for length of the brutal Eternal Peace hearings when California’s 1996 deregulation law […]
  Elizabeth Mc Carthy
• Community Energy Continues to Grow April 2, 2021
  Correction April 2 More than 200 cities and counties in California now are served by community energy. As of April 1, the number hit 201, with East Bay Community Energy’s expansion into Newark, Pleasanton, and Tracy; and Marin Clean Energy’s addition of Pleasant Hill and Vallejo to its service territory, the California Community Choice Aggregation […]
  Elizabeth Mc Carthy