Free Republic

SACRAMENTO - Invoking executive privilege, the Environmental Protection Agency on Friday refused to provide lawmakers with a full explanation of why it rejected California's greenhouse gas regulations. The EPA informed Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., that many of the documents she had requested contained internal deliberations or attorney-client communications that would not be shared now with Congress. "EPA is concerned about the chilling effect that would occur if agency employees believed their frank and honest opinions and analysis expressed as part of assessing California's waiver request were to be disclosed in a broad setting," EPA's associate administrator Christopher P. Bliley wrote....

Senate Democrats enlisted environmentalists Wednesday to chastise Republicans for holding up the state budget, arguing that the GOP is seeking a rollback of a Ronald Reagan-approved environmental law at the behest of business interests. Despite a pledge by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to veto spending in the Assembly-approved plan, Republicans also are demanding a provision to prevent cities and counties, as well as developers and businesses, from being sued on climate change for the next three years. Republicans cite concerns about Attorney General Jerry Brown's use of the California Environmental Quality Act to stall local development projects. They worry that Brown...

City Attorney Dennis Herrera's request Monday for permission from the state attorney general to file a lawsuit that could force Supervisor Ed Jew out of office is a legal tactic rarely used in California and believed to be unprecedented in San Francisco. - Saying his office's investigation into Jew's residency found overwhelming evidence that Jew has not been living in the Sunset neighborhood he represents, Herrera asked Attorney General Jerry Brown for approval to sue Jew so that the freshman lawmaker can be ousted from his seat on the Board of Supervisors. It is the first time in modern San...