It’s double duty for me today on KALW, where I’m hosting two leading climate scholars for Your Call at 10am and then hosting State of the Bay at 6pm PT on the chaos at San Francisco Unified and the state of housing in California.
The action kicks off at 10am PT with:
- Naomi Oreskes, Henry Charles Lea Professor of the History of Science and Affiliated Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University, and author of nine books including her best-selling Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming; and
- Michael Mann, Presidential Distinguished Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science at the University of Pennsylvania, with a secondary appointment in the Annenberg School for Communication, and author of several important books including The New Climate War: The Fight to Take Back Our Planet
I’ll ask them about Hurricane Helene and what it says about climate change, plus the just-concluded Climate Week in New York City that coincided with the UN general assembly.
Then at 6pm PT, join us on State of the Bay for the latest on the San Francisco Unified School District, with an ongoing fiscal crisis, just-announced delay of potential school closures, and emergency scrutiny of the superintendent. Jill Tucker, education reporter with the San Francisco Chronicle, will unpack it all.
Then we’ll hear about new efforts to address California’s housing shortage with experts Chris Elmendorf, professor of law at the University of California, Davis, School of Law, and Ben Metcalf, managing director of the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at UC Berkeley.
Finally, we’ll sit down with Obi Kaufmann, the artist, author and naturalist who has published a series of beloved books about his home state of California.
Tune in at 91.7 FM in the San Francisco Bay Area or stream live at 10am PT for Your Call and then again at 6pm PT for State of the Bay. What comments or questions do you have for our guests? Call 866-798-TALK to join the conversation!
Tonight on State of the Bay, I’ll interview SFMTA director Jeff Tumlin about the new plan for the controversial Valencia St. center bike lane. How can the city keep bicyclists safe on this busy corridor?
Then we’ll have a panel discussion on the prospect of office-to-residential conversions in downtown San Francisco. Many mayoral candidates argue that turning empty offices into homes is a way to revitalize our city, but are these conversions financially feasible? Guests include Sujata Svristava from SPUR, State Assemblymember Phil Ting, and Marc Babsin of the Emerald Fund.
Finally, producer Anne Harper sits down with local author William Gee Wong about his new book Sons of Chinatown: A Memoir Rooted in China and America.
Tune in at 91.7 FM in the San Francisco Bay Area or stream live at 6pm PT. What comments or questions do you have for our guests? Call 866-798-TALK to join the conversation!
On tonight’s State of the Bay on KALW, we’ll sit down with Corrina Gould of the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust to learn about a historic new agreement that will transfer a sacred Native American site in Berkeley back to the indigenous Ohlone people.
Then, we’ll discuss a California survey designed to understand and address the needs of the LGBTQIA+ community as they age. We’ll be joined by Susan DeMarois, Director of the California Department of Aging, and Openhouse Executive Director Kathleen Sullivan.
Finally, we’ll meet Allegra Madsen, the new Executive Director of the Frameline film festival, which celebrates queer storytelling.
Tune in at 91.7 FM in the San Francisco Bay Area or stream live at 6pm PT. What comments or questions do you have for our guests? Call 866-798-TALK to join the conversation!
The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are major polluters in the region but also potential models for climate action — if they can electrify their equipment, from fork lifts to cranes. A new report released by UCLA Law’s Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and UC Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment (CLEE) —A Heavy Lift: Policy Solutions to Accelerate Deployment of Zero-Emission Cargo Handling Equipment at the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles and Beyond—surveys the biggest obstacles to speedy electrification and makes some recommendations.
Greenhouse gas emissions at the Ports come from three main sources: ships, heavy-duty vehicles, and cargo handling equipment (“CHE”). Cargo handling equipment is the third largest source of emissions accounting for approximately 14 percent of the Ports’ total greenhouse gas emissions. The Ports have replaced some fossil-fuel powered equipment with zero-emission models as they work toward goals set forth in their Clean Air Action Plan, including a goal to transition to 100 percent zero-emission CHE by 2030. However, more work is needed to fully transition the Ports large CHE fleet to zero-emission models. While some consider cargo handling equipment the “low hanging fruit” of port emissions reductions, there remain challenges for the transition to zero emissions. Some of the needed ZE technology is still being developed, and communities and workers have raised concerns around the potential for job loss.
To address these concerns, the law schools hosted a convening of experts from a variety of industries, including environmental, public health, environmental justice, labor, business, and government sectors. We discussed the challenges and opportunities of decarbonizing cargo handling equipment at the Ports. The report discusses the top barriers to transitioning to electric CHE models and proposes solutions to overcome these barriers.
The report dives into the following barriers:
- Inadequate grid and charging infrastructure to support zero-emission cargo handling equipment and lack of substantial planning and funding to install necessary and timely infrastructure.
- Evolving zero-emission technology for some types of cargo handling equipment and high upfront costs.
- Fear among communities and workers of job loss and of increased emissions from expanded port activities.
The report then recommends several solutions, including:
- The Ports and utilities, chiefly Southern California Edison and Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, could proactively deploy “no regret” infrastructure, including increasing grid capacity and upgrading distribution networks that will be needed regardless of how zero-emission cargo handling equipment is powered.
- The California Legislature; the Air Resources Board; and/or the South Coast Air Quality Management District, using their existing authority grounded in air pollution control, could create technology-forcing mandates and clear, enforceable implementation deadlines, with penalties for non-compliance, to catalyze the zero-emission cargo handling equipment transition. Where technology is not readily commercially available, regulations could incorporate adequate flexibility and sufficient lead time for entities to meet the mandate.
- State and local government could implement policies to promote job preservation, local job creation, and worker training, such as programs that encourage ports and terminal operators to partner with local training organizations to upskill and reskill the workforce to use the new vehicles and technologies.
Given the importance of the Ports to worldwide commerce, they could help inform climate action at ports around the globe, if they and policy makers can collaborate to achieve these zero-emission goals.
If you want to dive into this topic further, join us for a webinar discussion today, Thursday, November 16th at 1pm PT when we’ll discuss solutions with panelists from Southern California Edison, the Port of Los Angeles, and Earthjustice (RSVP here).
This report is ultimately part of a series on business solutions to address climate change. Read more: A Heavy Lift: Policy Solutions to Accelerate Deployment of Zero-Emission Cargo Handling Equipment at the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles and Beyond.
This post was co-authored by Beth Kent and Gabi Rosenfeld.
On tonight’s State of the Bay, I’ll be interviewing Steve Berman, the “Bay Area Sports Guy,” now of The Athletic, to hear his insights. Was the 49ers’ shocking loss yesterday a fluke? Will the Warriors’ intriguing new roster work? And can the new WNBA team thrive here?
Then we’ll talk housing in the Bay Area. Governor Newsom recently signed a whopping 56 new housing bills. Cities are under pressure to build more, and fast. Will these new bills help? Joining us will be:
- Sarah Karlinsky of SPUR
- Ben Metcalf of the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at UC Berkeley
Finally, we’ll hear about a new exhibit on censorship called unBANNED, with Tamsin Smith, curator at Arion Press Gallery in the Presidio.
Tune in at 91.7 FM in the San Francisco Bay Area or stream live at 6pm PT. What comments or questions do you have for our guests? Call 866-798-TALK to join the conversation!
This morning at 10am PT, I’ll be joining KQED’s Forum to discuss how California can make our roads and pathways safer for bicyclists. Biking is a more climate-friendly and healthy way to get around, but sharing space on California’s roadways with vehicles is notoriously dangerous and sometimes deadly. What can be done to make biking safer and encourage more people to ride?
Joining me on the panel will be:
- Jared Sanchez, policy director, California Bicycle Coalition
- Darwin Moosavi, deputy secretary for environmental policy and housing coordination, California State Transportation Agency
- Anthony Molina, chair, Fresno County Bike Coalition
Stream live at 10am PT or tune in at 88.5 FM KQED in the San Francisco Bay Area!
Then at 6pm PT, I’ll be hosting State of the Bay on KALW, where we’ll start by interviewing State Senator Scott Wiener about his bill SB 58 to decriminalize psychedelics in California.
Then I’ll interview former Oakland Athletics vice president Andy Dolich, author of Goodbye, Oakland, about the future of the team and sports in Oakland, given the team owners’ apparent decision to relocate to Las Vegas. Can Oakland find a way to keep their last major sports franchise from leaving?
Finally, we’ll hear all about the San Francisco Mime Troupe’s new satire, Breakdown.
Tune in at 91.7 FM in the San Francisco Bay Area or stream live at 6pm PT. What comments or questions do you have for our guests? Call 866-798-TALK to join the conversation!
A major new piece of housing and climate legislation was introduced in California this month, and it’s been a long time coming. AB 68 (Ward) finally sets forth a powerful template for where the state should encourage new housing and where it should avoid planning for more, based on climate and environmental hazards. It represents the culmination of a long-sought alliance between major housing advocates like California YIMBY and conservation groups like The Nature Conservancy.
So where should the state build more housing, according to AB 68? It defines those places in the following “climate smart” ways:
- In a high or moderate income area, as defined by state affordable housing tax credit maps, to prioritize more housing in high-opportunity and well-resourced areas and minimize displacement of low-income renters
- Within 1/2 mile of major transit or an area where residents drive below-average distances on a per capita average, in order to reduce overall driving miles in the state
- Within a mile of a cluster of at least six types of locations like restaurants, bars, coffee shops, supermarkets, parks and hardware stores, among others, to ensure rural and exurban infill areas aren’t left out, as well as places without access to transit.
If a housing development is proposed in these areas, the project gets “ministerial” approval (i.e. exempt from environmental review), and a local government cannot limit the development beyond any of the following:
- Setback greater than four feet from any side
- Height limit less than 50 feet
- Maximum lot coverage of less than 60 percent
- Minimum parking requirement
- Floor area ratios (i.e. the building’s total floor area in relation to the size of the lot/parcel, indicating overall density) less than 1.0. to 1.5, depending on criteria met
There are additional requirements to protect existing affordable housing and ensure consistency with SB 375 plans, among others.
And where should planning for denser development in the state be limited? AB 68 describes these “climate risk lands” as within high-severity wildfire and flood zones, or having a sea level rise risk according to the latest science. They also must be not currently zoned for housing or have existing urbanized communities on them.
In these areas, local governments cannot increase existing housing densities or allow subdivisions, and they cannot approve any extension of water or sewer services, unless certain exceptions can be met, such as an approved housing element and a statement of housing necessity, among other conditions.
In short, AB 68 finally provides the much-needed, legislatively endorsed map for where the state should grow and where it should avoid putting more people into harm’s way. If successful, AB 68 will arguably be the single biggest climate bill that the state has passed in over a decade, given the centrality of land use and housing to meeting our climate goals. The fight to pass it will not be easy, but AB 68 has a powerful coalition to support it, along with a well-conceived solution to the state’s urgent and related challenges of climate and housing.
Trucks are by far the largest source of air pollution from vehicles in California, generating about 80% of carcinogenic diesel soot and 70% of smog-causing pollution, according to the Air Resources Board. And their impacts are unequal: communities of color and low-income communities situated near ports, distribution centers and warehouses — particularly in the Inland Empire — are more likely to bear the health costs.
As part of KQED Forum’s “In Transit” series this morning at 10am PT, I’ll discuss the scope of the problem and new efforts by the state to decarbonize the trucking industry. Joining me on the panel will be:
- Rachel Uranga, reporter covering transportation and mobility, Los Angeles Times
- Amparo Muñoz, former policy director, Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice (CCAEJ) – and co-author of the letter urging Gov. Newsom to “Declare a Public Health State of Emergency in the Inland Empire”
Tune in or stream live!
When California state agencies and other local leaders build or approve projects that increase overall driving miles, state law requires them to mitigate those impacts. A new report from CLEE describes how these agencies can reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT) by investing in offsite options like bike lanes, bus-only lanes, transit passes, and other measures that can effectively and efficiently reduce a corresponding amount of VMT.
Under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), government agencies and developers are required to mitigate (where feasible) the significant environmental impacts of new projects subject to discretionary approval, including impacts to transportation.
Senate Bill 743, originally enacted in 2013, called for a new transportation impact measure that promotes greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction and multimodal transportation. In 2018 state leaders updated the CEQA guidelines to recommend VMT as the preferred impact measurement. VMT focuses on total vehicle trip-miles generated by a new project regardless of where they occur or how much traffic they cause.
Mitigating VMT impacts of new projects has the potential to shift California’s development patterns in a more sustainable, transit-oriented direction. It also creates the opportunity—and potentially the need—to conduct mitigation at locations other than the development site when onsite mitigation is not possible or practical. Such offsite mitigation can address the regional and statewide nature of VMT impacts in the most efficient and cost-effective locations, particularly when mitigation might prove difficult at the site of a suburban or exurban development.
If properly conducted, offsite mitigation could maximize flexible and locally appropriate transit, active transportation, and density investments. But to carry it out, state and local government leaders will need new frameworks to track mitigation obligations, plan investments, and facilitate transactions. CLEE and others have previously proposed “bank” and “exchange” programs to manage these capacities.
CLEE’s new report, Implementing SB 743: Design Considerations for Vehicle Miles Traveled Bank and Exchange Programs advances these proposals with a set of strategies for state agencies like Caltrans (the state agency most likely to be responsible for VMT-inducing projects) and local governments to develop bank and exchange programs that build on their existing environmental mitigation efforts. In addition to analyzing the legal and programmatic setting for VMT mitigation banks and exchanges, the report offers a set of recommendations for policymakers including:
- A state-level program for state agencies to manage mitigation and select locally appropriate investments, likely based on collaboration between Caltrans and other state transportation and land use agencies
- Regional-level programs for local and regional agencies to manage mitigation flexibly and efficiently within appropriate geographic limitations—likely managed by Metropolitan Planning Organizations or Regional Transportation Planning Agencies, but potentially run by large cities or counties in some cases
- Frameworks for analyzing the “additionality” of VMT mitigation investments to ensure that bank and exchange program funds support VMT reductions beyond those that would have occurred anyway
- Strategies for defining equity in the context of VMT mitigation and integrating equity into the decision-making of a bank or exchange program
Cities and counties around the state, from San José to San Diego, are in the process of developing their own approaches that could become, or could integrate into, VMT banks and exchanges. Caltrans and local government leaders will require significant time and resources to develop programs that fit the nature of the VMT-inducing projects they oversee and the needs and priorities of the areas they represent—and many questions remain, from prioritizing different mitigation investments to ensuring those investments are made in an equitable fashion. The strategies outlined in the report should help inform these decisions and advance the VMT reduction efforts initiated by the legislature nearly a decade ago.
This post was originally co-authored by Ted Lamm and Katie Segal on Legal Planet.
It’s another double shot today of me hosting shows on KALW 91.7 FM San Francisco Bay Area. First, at 10am PT, I’ll be guest hosting Your Call’s One Planet Series, where we’ll discuss the viability of carbon capture technology in combating climate change. Carbon capture and storage is the process of capturing and storing carbon dioxide from polluting sources and storing it deep in the ground.
The just-passed (but not yet signed) Inflation Reduction Act includes a change in a crucial tax credit for the carbon capture industry—increasing the government subsidy for capturing CO2 from polluting sources from $50 to $85 per metric ton.
Some environmentalists call these carbon capture subsidies a handout to the oil industry and a distraction from urgently needed actions. How effective is this technology? Joining us to discuss are:
Tony Briscoe, environmental reporter with the Los Angeles Times
Naomi Oreskes, Henry Charles Lea Professor of the History of Science and Affiliated Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University.
Then we’ll cover the socio-environmental impacts of lithium mining to produce electric vehicles. Joining us will be Jennifer Krill, executive director of Earthworks, a nonprofit organization committed to protecting communities from the adverse impacts of oil and gas and mineral extraction.
Second, later today on State of the Bay at 6pm PT, we’ll cover the latest in San Francisco’s housing saga, as the state threatens to take over land use planning for the City. Plus we’ll discuss the rise of autoimmune disorders and learn about California’s youth governor’s race, covered in a new documentary.
Tune in at 91.7 FM in the San Francisco Bay Area or stream live at 10am PT for Your Call and then again at 6pm PT for State of the Bay. What comments or questions do you have for our guests? Call 866-798-TALK to join the conversation!
