coastal hills near Cambria

PCL Capital Insider – September 2024

Inadequate water supplies and floods are already major concerns in California. While many groups and individuals are working hard to address the problem, scientists tell us that climate change will pose even greater challenges in the future. As the earth warms, so does the speed at which water evaporates, increasing the volume of water stored in the clouds. While models don’t make clear predictions about whether California will be wetter or drier in coming decades, on average, they tell us that we should expect more extremes, with less snowpack, longer and more frequent droughts, and more intense rainfall in the winter. We need to increase our efforts to catch and hold this precious water whenever and wherever we can!

In the more hilly and mountainous areas along the coast, underground storage capacity is limited to multiple smaller pockets under the surface. If overdrawn, these shallow aquifers are susceptible to saltwater intrusion. This presents a serious challenge to the central coast, where freshwater demand is met almost entirely by groundwater. Read more »

California Senate Chamber desks

PCL Capital Insider – June 2024

Successes and Challenges on the Legislative Front: HCF Protected and Chaos in Wildfire Policy
First, a big win!

Habitat Conservation Fund (HCF) is saved, and its previous funding is restored! Last week, the administration’s proposed budget trailer bill suggested eliminating the HCF and taking back $45 million already committed to the fund in previous fiscal years. PCL, our legal advisors and allies, and you, our members, quickly responded; we let legislators and the Governor know that the citizen-created HCF is needed to support wildlife in the face of climate change and that the will of the voters stands with California’s critical habitats. Proposition 117, passed by the electorate in 1990 and sponsored by PCL, created the fund that has since disbursed almost one billion dollars for wild habitat conservation across our state. Thank you again for helping protect the legacy of Prop 117!

PCL continues to advance many of the bills we support, and we have seen wins in defending against lousy legislation and poor policy. Plenty of challenges remain, however, and we will certainly have our hands full of good work! Below are the highlights of some of the critical environmental bills this session—the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Read more »

Sacramento Capitol interior

PCL Capital Insider – April 2024

2024 will be a fast-paced and chaotic year in the capital: with a state budget crisis, a looming national election, and a flurry of action on bills old and new the legislature and those that follow them will have our hands full. The state Senate is under the new leadership of President Pro Tempore Mike McGuire and a slew of newly appointed committee chairs, and over in the Assembly, Speaker Robert Rivas just assumed his role at the end of June 2023. The priorities of the new leadership and their coalitions in both houses are still evolving. Coupled with the challenges we face, votes and outcomes will grow more difficult to ascertain in advance. Read more »

PCL Capital Insider – February 2024

California Environmental Assembly was held on Saturday, January 27th, 2024, at UC Davis, hosted by the School of Law’s California Environmental Law & Policy Center. The Assembly theme – Beyond 1.5 Degrees: Hard Truths and Solutions – focused our discussions on immediate needs and actions to address the multi-tiered challenges of climate change: more intense cycles of drought and flood, massive wildfires, and our need to reduce our emissions of greenhouse gasses dramatically have set the stage for needed reforms and advances in law and policy. Read more »