Free Republic

The Los Angeles Times reports today: _______________________ After encountering criticism from environmental groups, Gov. Jerry Brown signaled Wednesday that he plans to withdraw his controversial proposal to protect the California bullet train project from injunctions sought by environmental lawsuits. Brown’s staff told key environmental groups that he would no longer include modifications to the California Environmental Quality Act in a package of legislation this month asking for $6 billion to start construction of the high-speed rail project. …........ Dan Richard, chairman of the California High-Speed Rail Authority, had first raised the possibility of some legal protections from lawsuits in a...

What started as a battle over fireworks shows led to a sweeping legal victory Friday for environmentalists that could stymie a wide range of events needing city permits, from the Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon to birthday parties held at parks. “According to the strictest interpretation of this, jumpy-jumps and everything else would be subject to environmental review if this ruling stands,” said lawyer Robert Howard, who represented the La Jolla Community Fireworks Foundation in the case. “It’s a breathtaking ruling.” Superior Court Judge Linda Quinn said La Jolla’s annual Fourth of July fireworks show requires evaluation under the California Environmental...

It goes without saying: California desperately needs jobs. With unemployment hovering above 12% — second highest in the nation — too many Californians are living with the physical and psychological stress of being unemployed and living without any hope of a way out. So why then do some of our elected officials still act as though we don't have a serious jobs crisis? Why are they refusing to examine certain politically untouchable, "third rail" laws, even though the original intent of some of these laws has been twisted and abused? One of the worst examples .. is the misuse of...

The handful of Republican lawmakers most likely to provide crucial votes for Gov. Jerry Brown's budget plan are threatening to withhold their support without a dramatic rewriting of state environmental law. The demand, pushed in private talks with the governor, would curtail lawsuits against projects threatening ecological damage, grant waivers to big telecommunications companies and exempt many urban developments from environmental review. The legislators have declined to share the details of their proposal publicly, but draft legislation to overhaul the law was obtained by The Times. Sweeping changes in the California Environmental Quality Act would stand little chance of approval...

Sacramento -- The California Air Resources Board violated state environmental law in 2008 when it adopted a comprehensive plan to reduce greenhouse gases and again last year when it passed cap-and-trade regulations, a San Francisco Superior Court judge has ruled in a tentative decision. If the decision is made final, California would be barred from implementing its ambitious plan to combat global warming until it complies with portions of the California Environmental Quality Act, though it's not yet clear what the air board would have to do to be in compliance. The state's plan, which implements AB32, the Global Warming...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s hard-times budget proposal to balance the state’s books hinders California’s efforts to curb global warming and weakens the state’s principal environmental law, environmentalists contend. Fears of an economic meltdown appear to be driving the shift, which conflicts with the governor’s public image as a warrior to curb greenhouse gases. “He seems to be panicked. Instead of moving ahead calmly and deliberately, he is throwing possible solutions out there, giving a sense that he is spooked by the economy. There is a sense of panic, and I think it’s out of character,” said Gary Patton, general counsel of...

SACRAMENTO – California is on the verge of initiating a historic rewrite of local planning laws, fusing for the first time the issues of urban growth and global warming. Unprecedented nationally, the complex legislation would steer communities toward land-use policies to contain sprawl, using as much as $12 billion a year in state-controlled transportation funds as an incentive. “This bill will change the way California grows,” said state Sen. Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, its author. Under the measure, the state Air Resources Board would establish targets for 17 regions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as part of a broader campaign to...

Not a single Republican voted for California's landmark global warming law when the state Senate passed it last year. Today, the minority party is taking advantage of the law by using it as leverage during negotiations on the overdue state budget. Republicans are upset that Attorney General Jerry Brown, a Democrat, has told at least a dozen cities and counties that they must offset the increased greenhouse gas emissions that will be a byproduct of future growth. Republicans say that will hurt cities' and counties' transportation and housing plans, and want language in the state budget to protect local governments...

SACRAMENTO - Three Central Valley lawmakers unveiled flood-control bills Wednesday as part of a larger rollout of public works legislation sponsored by Assembly Republicans. Stockton's Greg Aghazarian, Fresno's Mike Villines and Richvale's Doug LaMalfa are carrying the legislation, all of which would suspend the California Environmental Quality Act for levee repairs. Assembly Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield said the proposals, along with others to streamline road-building projects and protect highway money, represent their stance in the larger debate over public works that is dominating discussion at the Capitol. Suspending CEQA, as the act is known, strips layers of bureaucratic...

SACRAMENTO — In his State of the State address in January, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signaled that he would revise California's signature environmental protection law, which builders have long complained is cumbersome and restrictive. In the run-up to that speech and in the months since, developers and other businesses that have chafed under the California Environmental Quality Act's regulations have donated millions of dollars to support the governor's political agenda. In the last two weeks alone, committees supporting Schwarzenegger's political causes took in a total of $225,000 from three business groups that want to see CEQA changed . . . All...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Saying he had "no illusions" about the difficulty of unseating a popular celebrity governor, state Treasurer Phil Angelides said Monday he's confident he'll win the Democratic nomination for governor in 2006 and beat Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in a head-to-head showdown. "This isn't going to be a plain, vanilla election - we're not talking about potholes," Angelides said in an interview Monday before launching a five-day statewide campaign tour Tuesday morning. "Gov. Schwarzenegger and I have a different view of the world, two very different visions of what makes society strong." A longtime fixture in California politics,...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - California's housing shortage, which has pushed median home prices above $470,000, is spurring a variety of moves to change the state's 35-year-old environmental protection law, long considered the nation's toughest. Attempts by the state's home building industry to change the 1970 law, signed by former Gov. Ronald Reagan, are nothing new, but this year Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and a growing list of Democrats are joining in. Key lawmakers are pushing bills to make it easier for developers to maneuver around the law, especially to build housing in downtowns and older urban neighborhoods. The growing momentum to...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - As Wal-Mart Stores Inc. tries to plant dozens of new supercenters in California, lawyers aligned with a variety of opposition groups are using California's tough environmental laws to stall the nation's largest retailer. A handful of lawyers have sued more than 30 cities that approved the 200,000-square-foot combination grocery and department stores, claiming local officials hungry for sales taxes have miscalculated their environmental consequences. In many cases, the suits have been filed on behalf of obscure, often secretive community groups. Some have been backed by labor unions leading an anti-Wal-Mart fight in California, while others have few...

Environmentalists released a sweeping report today outlining major milestones in preserving open space and other resources through the state's landmark land-use law, which is now being eyed for revisions. Marking the 35th anniversary of the California Environmental Quality Act, the hefty report points to dozens of "success stories," including saving the Santa Monica Mountains from development and cleaning air at Los Angeles' ports. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and various legislators are now considering changes to CEQA to ease California's housing crisis and spur home building. "CEQA is really the foundation of California's environmental laws. It gives ordinary people the power to...

When the California Environmental Quality Act was signed by Ronald Reagan 30-plus years ago, it reflected the growing belief of the era that human carelessness was despoiling the natural environment, as stated in these introductory words: "It is necessary to provide a high- quality environment that at all times is healthful and pleasing to the senses and intellect of man.