by Elliott Petty [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

In a landmark vote by Los Angeles Harbor Commissioners, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa moves closer to his goal of cleaning up Southern California's air and paves the way to improve the lives of 16,000 port truckers and their families.  The sorely needed L.A. Clean Trucks Program is expected to serve as a national model for ports around the country.  

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Governor Schwarzenegger now faces a test on how serious he is about global warming, according to the Sacramento Bee. If Arnold does not find a reliablerevenue source for the state's new emissions standards, it essentiallybecomes an unfunded mandate. And all of the magazine covers andspeeches and carbon-offsets will not make the Governor anenvironmentalist unless he gets real about the cost.

The fight over gay marriage in California has reached the state Supreme Court, a good sign for advocates,  the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Butwith rapid shifts in public opinion toward greater gay rights, thecourt of public opinion may be the best approach to this delicate issue.

Democratic colleagues and friends—and even some Republicans—are singing the praises of Speaker-elect Karen Bass, who has devoted her political life to often-ignored causes such asfoster care, the Los Angeles Times reports. Bass is ready to lead—andit's a shame she only has two years to do the job before being termedout.

There's more...

Photo courtesy of commondreams

by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

by WarmingLaw [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

(Cross-posted from Warming Law)  

It's a shame that Roll Call operates behind a subscription wall, because Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), who chairs the House's special committee on global warming, has a great op-ed there today summarizing where things stand moving forward from the solid energy bill framework that congressional Democrats hope to pass, "Global Warming At the Starting Gate." One key highlight:

Seventeen states (representing over 46 percent of Americans) have adopted or will soon adopt global warming emissions standards for vehicles. The federal district court in Vermont recently held that federal law does not prohibit such measures. What remains to be seen this year is whether the Bush EPA will grant these states the waiver they need to enforce these tailpipe standards, or spurn their ambitious action.

read more »

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

A federal judge has ruled that the state of Vermont has a right to enact legislation requiring stricter auto emissions standardsthan the national standards, thus giving a boost to California’sefforts to do the same as it implements its anti-global warming bill,reports the LA Times. This is the latest carbon emissions ruling infavor of reducing emissions (the last one was when the Supreme Courtruled that the EPA could indeed regulate carbon emissions), so here’shoping that California wins its own case in federal court.

The Contra Costa Times articulates the obvious: it hasn’t been the most productive year for the California legislature.Some hopes rest on the special session Governor Schwarzenegger hascalled to address health care reform, and water storage and floodprotection legislation, but the Times says don’t count on it.

The Sac Bee also reports on the perception of the ineffectiveness of the legislative session that ended yesterday. Legislative bingo sounds like fun though.

by Lucas O'Connor [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

by atdleft [courtesy of Calitics: Soapblox California - Front Page]