After several weeks of record-breaking heat, fires, and smoke, Governor Newsom today reiterated that we are in a climate emergency and announced Executive Order N-79-20 requiring 100% of all new in-state sales of cars and light trucks to be zero-emissions vehicles by 2035. This makes California the first state in the nation to ban new … Read more
Lecture by Ellie Cohen to the Environmental Forum of Marin 2020-2021 inaugural class of FORUM 2020, September 15, 2020: No More Business as Usual: Climate-Safe CA and the Path to Net-Negative Emissions by 2030 (pdf)
On Tuesday, Sept. 15, Stockton’s City Council unanimously approved a resolution selecting a consultant to complete a feasibility study on launching a Community Choice Energy program in Stockton. Enabled by state law, the program would allow the City to procure power on behalf of residents, businesses, and municipal accounts while still receiving transmission and distribution … Read more
By Venise Curry, MD, and Ellie Cohen, Special to CalMatters September 14, 2020 https://calmatters.org/commentary/my-turn/2020/09/lawmakers-let-oil-and-gas-interests-sicken-us-gov-newsom-can-put-us-on-the-path-to-recovery/ Make no mistake about it. Climate change is powering California’s perfect storm of record heat, lightning, drought, wildfire and smoke amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and electricity blackouts. In his video message to the Democratic National Convention in August, Governor Gavin Newsom … Read more
by The Los Angeles Times Editorial Board, The Los Angeles Times Highlights The west coast of the United States is currently experiencing the climate catastrophe scientists have been warning the world about for decades Around 2 million acres of land have burned in California from this year’s early fire season Though some fires were accidentally … Read more
by Sammy Roth, The Los Angeles Times Highlights UC Berkeley’s Center for Labor Research and Education released a new report titled “Putting California on the High Road: a Jobs and Actions Plan for 2030″ Carol Zabin, lead author of the report, emphasizes that many people are currently in the energy workforce and need to be … Read more
by Brian Eckhouse, Bloomberg Highlights A new lobbying organization named the American Clean Power Association has formed in order to advocate for more renewable policies The country’s top wind power trade group is teaming up with some big-name energy groups such as NextEra Energy, Avangrid, and Berkshire Hathaway Energy to form this association The renewables … Read more
by Mark Olalde, Desert Sun Highlights Many environmental bills were not passed during the 2020 legislative session in California Mary Creasman, CEO of the California League of Conservation Voters, remarks that we are running out of time to make big environmental impacts: “We only have until 2030 to prevent the most catastrophic impacts of the … Read more
“One factor that did not cause the rotating outage: California’s commitment to clean energy. Renewable energy did not cause the rotating outages.” That’s right, California’s climate policies and clean energy goals did not cause the state’s recent blackouts, as the three lead California energy agencies wrote in a letter to the Governor and the Legislature in August. The … Read more
BY ELLIE COHEN and The Climate Center Staff, SPECIAL TO THE SACRAMENTO BEE https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/california-forum/article245311865.html AUGUST 29, 2020 05:00 AM , UPDATED AUGUST 29, 2020 09:50 AM The rolling blackouts that started on Aug. 14 amid a record heatwave provide an alarming reminder of how fragile and obsolete California’s electricity system is. They should also serve as a … Read more
