Mary Nichols has 'rock star' influence as top air quality regulator
A meeting with Gov. Jerry Brown and Chevron executives was ending when an oil company official turned to Mary Nichols, California's top regulator for air pollution. There was only so much Chevron...
View ArticleGov. Brown's inaugural speech continues his green, fiscal themes
SACRAMENTO - Marking a historic occasion with a simple, subdued ceremony, Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. called Monday for ambitious new environmental rules as he embarked on an unprecedented fourth term as...
View ArticleGov. Brown's renewable energy plan could boost solar, wind industries
Gov. Jerry Brown's proposal this week to significantly boost the amount of energy California derives from renewable sources could reinvigorate the state's utility-scale solar and wind industries, as...
View ArticleLawmakers take step toward fulfilling state climate change goals
State lawmakers are preparing a sweeping package of bills that would fulfill several of Gov. Jerry Brown's climate change objectives by increasing California's reliance on renewable energy and...
View ArticleCalifornia's push for clean energy has a problem: no place to store it
On a quiet Sunday morning last April, power plants were pumping far more energy into California's electricity grid than residents needed for their refrigerators, microwaves and television sets. So...
View ArticleCalifornia's greenhouse gas emission targets are getting tougher
Gov. Jerry Brown accelerated California's effort to slash greenhouse gas emissions Wednesday, burnishing the state's reputation as a pacesetter in the battle against climate change. In an executive...
View ArticleCalifornia's cap-and-trade program is key to Gov. Jerry Brown's agenda
For Gov. Jerry Brown, fighting climate change is more than a central tenet of his political agenda. It's also a key source of funding. California's cap-and-trade program, in which permits to pollute...
View ArticleState Senate advances sweeping climate change legislation
California state senators approved legislation Wednesday intended to help the state tackle climate change by setting new targets for generating renewable energy, reducing gasoline use and increasing...
View ArticleFor Jerry Brown, climate change issue melds the spiritual and political
Buried in Pope Francis' encyclical on climate change was a reference that Gov. Jerry Brown could have appreciated. The pontiff cited a French priest, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, whose controversial...
View ArticlePassage of California climate change bill could set global example
When Gov. Jerry Brown visits the Vatican this week for an international conference, he'll be carrying a resolution from state lawmakers supporting Pope Francis' recent encyclical on climate change....
View ArticleCalifornians back new policies to fight climate change, poll says
Californians are concerned about the effects of climate change and support new steps to address the problem, according to a poll released Wednesday night by the Public Policy Institute of California....
View ArticleGov. Jerry Brown takes aim at oil companies over 'highly destructive' product
Gov. Jerry Brown, who is in the middle of a political battle over climate-change legislation, took aim at oil companies Monday, saying they sell a "highly destructive" product."The oil industry is in...
View ArticleBrown seeks to broaden California's clean-energy reach in the West
Gov. Jerry Brown is working on an ambitious plan for transmitting electricity across state lines and bolstering California's role in the region, according to energy officials. The plan would integrate...
View ArticleThis Democrat's decision on climate change could be a game changer
Henry T. Perea was having a change of heart. For years, the Democratic assemblyman had griped about the Central Valley getting shortchanged by Sacramento and overshadowed by Los Angeles, San Francisco...
View ArticleOil industry, environmentalists in ad war over bill to cut gasoline use
When Californians check their mailboxes or flip on their radios these days, they might be forgiven for thinking an election is around the corner. It's not, of course. But with just a week left for...
View ArticleWhat's the deal with California's controversial climate change bill?
When Gov. Jerry Brown started his fourth and final term in January, he laid out three ambitious environmental goals for the next 15 years. First, double the energy efficiency of older buildings....
View ArticleState lawmakers challenge Air Resources Board's power over climate change rules
Top members of Gov. Jerry Brown's staff hosted more than a dozen Assembly members recently to take their temperatures on hotly contested environmental legislation. Instead, the meeting became a gripe...
View ArticleWhy climate law advocates are watching these black and Latino lawmakers
The "wanted" poster with pictures of five state lawmakers appeared in the pages of a Spanish-language newspaper in Southern California last week. "Would these politicians be willing to confront the...
View ArticleGovernor, top lawmakers ready to modify climate change measure as...
Facing resistance from even some fellow Democrats, Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders were scrambling Tuesday to find a compromise on a controversial bill that embodies some of the governor's...
View ArticleGas reduction dropped from California climate change bill
Gov. Jerry Brown faced a cascade of setbacks Wednesday as climate change legislation was stripped of his targets for reducing gasoline use, his effort to fix dilapidated roads was delayed, and there...
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