The immediate threat to California’s climate-change fight isn’t Trump, it’s this

[Source: The Los Angeles Times] With President Trump in the Oval Office, California officials are bracing for the possibility that the new administration will undermine the state’s landmark policies on climate change. But the more immediate threat isn’t coming from Washington; it lies in a lawsuit that has been slowly winding its way through state courts. The 4-year-old Read More…

California’s bullet train is hurtling toward a multibillion-dollar overrun, a confidential federal report warns

[Source: The Los Angeles Times] California’s bullet train could cost taxpayers 50% more than estimated — as much as $3.6 billion more. And that’s just for the first 118 miles through the Central Valley, which was supposed to be the easiest part of the route between Los Angeles and San Francisco. A confidential Federal Railroad Administration risk Read More…

California lawmakers offer a plan to extend the state’s cap-and-trade program

[Source: The Los Angeles Times] A group of lawmakers, including some who have been skeptical of global warming regulations, introduced legislation on Thursday to ensure that California’s cap-and-trade emissions control program remains a permanent part of the state’s climate policy. The measure, AB 151, is only one paragraph long right now, but it represents an opening bid Read More…

On-call rest periods are not allowed, California Supreme Court rules

[Source: CalChamber/HR Watchdog] California employers will need to re-examine their rest-break policies and practices. In a disappointing decision for California businesses, the California Supreme Court ruled today that on-call rest periods are not permissible. Today’s decision will require many California employers to re-examine their rest-break policies and practices. Supreme Court Ruling In Augustus, et al. Read More…

California’s climate fight could be painful – especially on job and income growth

[Source: Los Angeles Times] Californians are likely to pay more for gasoline, electricity, food and new homes — and to feel their lives jolted in myriad other ways — because their state broadly expanded its war on climate change this summer. The ambitious new goals will require complex regulations on an unprecedented scale, but were approved in Sacramento Read More…