Less than a month after proposing fast-tracking high-speed rail construction around California environmental legislation, the Brown administration is hitting the brakes. The governor’s staff emailed key environmental groups that it would no longer pursue efforts to bypass elements of the state’s 1970 landmark California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).   read more

Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) officials announced Monday that a faulty computer model led to problems that shut down the San Onofre nuclear plant in January, but left unanswered a host of questions.   read more

When San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) pitches its new plan to allow customers a chance to prepay their utility bills, it talks up the program’s convenience and potential cost savings. What it fails to mention is the abrogation of consumer protections that shield the public, often low-income families, from being abruptly disconnected.   read more

The Franchise Tax Board estimates that 90% of taxpayers pay their fare share of income and corporate taxes. But those who don’t pay account for millions of dollars in lost revenues that would go a long way toward covering the state’s chronic budget deficit. The board announced last week that it is sending out notices to more than 100,000 businesses that didn’t pay taxes in 2010.   read more

The California Senate and Assembly each passed a $92.1 billion budget Friday, beating a midnight constitutional deadline but leaving unanswered a number of questions about how it will be paid for. Governor Jerry Brown is pushing for an intiative on the November ballot to raise $5.9 billion by temporarily raising the sales tax and increasing taxes on the wealthy. If rejected, the state would slash billions from education.   read more

Ten years ago in Oregon, a ballot initiative to label genetically modified food appeared to have two-thirds of voters’ support, but fell before an advertising onslaught. On June 13, California’s Secretary of State certified a similar measure for the November ballot and estimates are that opposition groups are prepared to spend between $60 million and $80 million to defeat it.   read more

California water wars are legendary—some retold in movies like Chinatown—and none is more memorable than the fight over a Peripheral Canal in the San Joaquin-Sacramento Delta that voters decided at the ballot box in 1982. Now, the proposed canal’s sequel may be about to debut.   read more