FIXING CEQA KEY TO ACHIEVING GOVERNOR’S GREENHOUSE GAS TARGETS
Gov. Jerry Brown this week traveled to the Vatican City to talk with the Pope about climate change and his aggressive new targets for reducing California’s greenhouse gas emissions. One of the biggest impediments to meeting these ambitious targets is, ironically, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Gov. Brown has famously called CEQA reform “the Lord’s work” and we hope he took this opportunity to urge the Pope to put it on the “to do list.”
This 40-year-old law is one of the chief litigation tools used by opponents of responsible growth to block higher-density infill development and other projects that help reduce dependency on cars and increase use of renewable energy. The Bay Area Council Executive Committee recently endorsed Sen. Pavley’s GHG reduction bill, SB 32, with one condition being that the Legislature consider the negative impacts of CEQA. Council CEO Jim Wunderman today in an OpEd in the San Francisco Chronicle spelled out the case for modernizing CEQA. To engage in our CEQA reform policy work, contact Senior Vice President Matt Regan.
