[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

California’s lawsuit against the EPAhas finally been allowed to move forward in federal court, after theEPA released its justification for refusing to grant California awaiver under the Clean Air Act, reports the Contra Costa Times.

Calitics highlights a very worrying trend in the California economy—the fact that there was nearly zero job growth in the state last year.Only 14,900 new jobs were generated for the whole state, with most ofit in the Bay Area. Southern California actually experienced negativegrowth.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Californians can be proud that our state has one of the nation's highest minimum wage rates —nowat $8 per hour as of the New Year—and with marginal indexing, we willdo a better job of keeping up with cost of living, the Sacramento Beereports. This isn't always the story we hear out of the business lobby,some of whom had to be dragged along kicking and screaming, but we areconfident in the resilience of the California economy.

Governor Schwarzenegger signed more than 700 bills last year—and vetoed over 200—many of which went into law yesterday,the Bee reports. In addition to the minimum wage increase, we can lookforward to eased restrictions on kangaroo skin, increased use of solarwater heaters, new consumer rights concerning gift cards, big fines forlighting up in a car with minors (sorry, smokers) and an anti-classroomdiscrimination bill that has drawn the ire of the right.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Maybe we are finally doing something about global warming: theHouse of Representatives has passed a major energy bill, by a 235-181vote, that would increase vehicle fuel economy standards by 40% to35 miles per gallon, reports the LA Times. But the bill faces a tougherbattle in the Senate, and is strongly opposed by the BushAdministration, which is concerned about measures that would repeal $13billion in tax breaks for oil companies, and require utilities togenerate more power from alternative energy sources. Should it pass, itwould mark the first time fuel economy standards have been raised since1975.

Economic analysts are making dismal predictions about the California economy in the next year, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. Tighter creditand falling home sales will contribute to slow growth and an elevatedunemployment rate. The state budget deficit is also expected to widen,and decreased public spending is in turn expected to slow down therecovery.

by Julia Rosen [courtesy of Working Californians blogs]

It know it's not a thrilling story, but the plans the California Air Resource Board is putting together is one of the biggest environmental stories in the country. California has huge ambitious goals to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and the CARB is tasked with figuring out how we get there and issuing regulations to ensure it happens. SacBee:

The state Air Resources Board will launch into a yearlong planning effort today that it hopes will yield a workable plan for slashing California's annual greenhouse gas emissions by 100 million metric tons in just 12 years.

That goal – the equivalent of cutting the state's gasoline use almost 70 percent – represents most of the reductions mandated under Assembly Bill 32, passed last year. The specific regulations enacted to meet it likely will affect virtually every sector of the California economy, from how electricity is generated to how new communities are planned.

Many of the emissions reductions will be straightforward expansions of energy-efficiency programs that the state already has pursued for years. But others – like rules that could affect land use – will put the agency in unfamiliar regulatory territory.

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by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]