Former California governors and Southern California Leadership Council members George Deukmejian, Pete Wilson and Gray Davis discuss the necessity of modernizing one of the state's oldest environmental laws in order to protect the state's economy.
Following a slew of "frivolous lawsuits" filed in the name of CEQA, the California Environmental Quality Act, Deukmejian, Wilson and Gray have posed a "unique challenge" to the leaders and citizens of California: protect the state's integrity while balancing its dual defining characteristics -- being "green" and "golden."
In an op-ed for the San Diego Union-Tribune, the former governors write: "Adopted in 1970, CEQA provides a process for government to evaluate and mitigate adverse environmental impacts from projects and programs. While CEQA's original intent must remain intact, now is the time to end reckless abuses of this important law; abuses that are threatening California's economic vitality, costing jobs, and are wasting valuable taxpayer dollars."
"Ending these abuses means modernizing CEQA with smart reforms such as requiring petitioners to disclose their economic interests, adding certainty to the CEQA timeline, avoiding duplicative CEQA reviews, lessening opportunities for litigation and delay and updating CEQA so that it better integrates and coordinates numerous environmental protection mandates."
FULL STORY: Keep California green and golden with CEQA reforms
To Reform CEQA, Return to its Roots
Rick Cole, the former City Manager of Ventura, California, and a well-known civic leader in Southern California, defends the need for CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) while calling for returning to the law's key roots.
Opinion: How California’s Environmental Law Empowers NIMBYs
Critics of a new provision calling “social noise” an environmental impact say the law can too easily be co-opted by anti-housing groups to block new development.
Infamous 315-Unit Lafayette Housing Development Finally Approved
In a dramatic sign of how far zoning reform has come in the state of California, CEQA wasn’t enough to stop a 315-unit apartment development first proposed 12 years ago in the city of Lafayette.
National Parks Layoffs Will Cause Communities to Lose Billions
Thousands of essential park workers were laid off this week, just before the busy spring break season.
Retro-silient?: America’s First “Eco-burb,” The Woodlands Turns 50
A master-planned community north of Houston offers lessons on green infrastructure and resilient design, but falls short of its founder’s lofty affordability and walkability goals.
Delivering for America Plan Will Downgrade Mail Service in at Least 49.5 Percent of Zip Codes
Republican and Democrat lawmakers criticize the plan for its disproportionate negative impact on rural communities.
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Balancing Bombs and Butterflies: How the National Guard Protects a Rare Species
The National Guard at Fort Indiantown Gap uses GIS technology and land management strategies to balance military training with conservation efforts, ensuring the survival of the rare eastern regal fritillary butterfly.
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