It’s a double shot of me on KALW radio today, where I’ll be hosting Your Call at 10am PT and then State of the Bay at 6pm PT for our second edition of our climate special series.
First, on Your Call’s One Planet Series at 10am PT, we’ll discuss a joint investigation by The Washington Post and The Examination about how the food, beverage and dietary supplement industries are paying dozens of registered influencer dietitians to help sell products and deliver industry-friendly messages on social media platforms. Joining us will be:
- Sasha Chavkin, correspondent for The Examination
- Dr. Caitlin Gilbert, neuroscientist and Well+Being data reporter at The Washington Post
Then at 6pm PT on State of the Bay for our second climate special, you can hear my interview with with California Attorney General Rob Bonta about the state’s lawsuit against big oil for climate damages.
Then, many Bay Area cities have formally declared a climate emergency, but what does this mean, and what should it mean? We’ll discuss what tradeoffs and changes may be needed to address climate change in the Bay Area with:
And finally, we sit down with local educator, organizer, artist and activist, Khafre Jay to learn why he thinks the climate movement needs more Hip Hop.
Tune in at 91.7 FM in the San Francisco Bay Area or stream live at 10am PT for Your Call and then again at 6pm PT for State of the Bay. What comments or questions do you have for our guests? Call 866-798-TALK to join the conversation!
The electric vehicle (EV) market is growing rapidly, but with this growth comes public pressure to ensure supply chains for EV batteries are sustainable. The soaring demand for batteries relies heavily on the extraction and refinement of critical minerals, processes that have far-reaching environmental and social impacts. Moreover, the global distribution of these operations leaves them susceptible to geopolitical instability, further complicating the supply chain.
At the same time, this growth in mining and manufacturing also presents an opportunity to avoid recreating the harms of past mining and industrial activities. While individual EV buyers have little leverage over the industry, fleet purchasers of EVs instead have an opportunity to use their combined market power to ensure upstream suppliers adhere to strong sustainability standards. Corporate fleets can wield their collective influence and purchasing power to drive change on a large scale.
With that market power in mind, our climate program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy and the Environment (CLEE) has partnered with the nonprofit Ceres and its Corporate Electric Vehicle Alliance (CEVA), a collaborative group of companies focused on accelerating the transition to EVs, to release a new report with recommendations for major corporate EV fleet purchasers for how they can help ensure supply chain sustainability.
Among other solutions, the report recommends that corporate actors looking to make EV fleet purchases:
- Join the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) in order to publicly demonstrate commitment to responsible sourcing; and add political momentum and end-user economic clout to IRMA’s efforts to engage and audit the mining industry
- Advocate for domestic mining reform that expands mining only as much as necessary while ensuring responsible environmental management and clean up as well as community and Tribal engagement
- Participate in extended producer responsibility schemes and build partnerships with second life and recycling entities.
- Advocate for federal policy to standardize EV battery labeling and traceability through an open-source, interoperable digital product passport with requirements designed to improve environmental and human impacts, carbon footprint, and end of life opportunities.
- Advocate for federal policy to standardize EV battery labeling and traceability through an open-source, interoperable digital product passport with requirements designed to improve environmental and human impacts, carbon footprint, and end of life opportunities.
While the report’s primary focus is on U.S. companies operating electric vehicle fleets, the information and recommendations can also benefit other companies involved in the EV supply chain. The goal is to highlight areas where corporate advocacy and procurement practices can have the most impact in promoting a sustainable EV industry.
Ensuring a sustainable EV battery supply chain—one that maximizes benefits for communities, industry, and the environment—will require long-term, coordinated action by stakeholders across the globe. Large fleets and major companies can leverage their purchasing power and engagement with industry to incentivize manufacturers and mining operators to prioritize sustainability and responsible practices. The recommendations in this guidebook offer a roadmap for corporate procurement practices, supplier engagement, and support for policies and initiatives that aim to make ethical sourcing and environmental stewardship the industry norm.
Access the full report here: Electric Vehicle Batteries: A Guidebook for Responsible Corporate Engagement Throughout the Supply Chain
This post is co-authored with Shruti Sarode and cross-posted on Legal Planet.
I’ll be a guest on KQED Forum today at 10am PT discussing congestion pricing — where cities charge drivers to enter congested areas during peak times, as a way to limit traffic and pay for transit. The show is part of Forum’s “In Transit” series where I’m a regular guest.
London, Stockholm and Singapore all use congestion pricing, but it has yet to be adopted in any U.S. city. Los Angeles is now studying the concept, and LA Metro will soon release a report examining which parts of the city could benefit most from congestion pricing.
Joining me on the show will be Mark Vallianatos, executive officer in the Office of Strategic Innovation, LA Metro.
You can stream live or tune in on KQED in Northern California.
This morning at 10am PT, I’ll be joining KQED’s Forum to discuss how California can make our roads and pathways safer for bicyclists. Biking is a more climate-friendly and healthy way to get around, but sharing space on California’s roadways with vehicles is notoriously dangerous and sometimes deadly. What can be done to make biking safer and encourage more people to ride?
Joining me on the panel will be:
- Jared Sanchez, policy director, California Bicycle Coalition
- Darwin Moosavi, deputy secretary for environmental policy and housing coordination, California State Transportation Agency
- Anthony Molina, chair, Fresno County Bike Coalition
Stream live at 10am PT or tune in at 88.5 FM KQED in the San Francisco Bay Area!
Then at 6pm PT, I’ll be hosting State of the Bay on KALW, where we’ll start by interviewing State Senator Scott Wiener about his bill SB 58 to decriminalize psychedelics in California.
Then I’ll interview former Oakland Athletics vice president Andy Dolich, author of Goodbye, Oakland, about the future of the team and sports in Oakland, given the team owners’ apparent decision to relocate to Las Vegas. Can Oakland find a way to keep their last major sports franchise from leaving?
Finally, we’ll hear all about the San Francisco Mime Troupe’s new satire, Breakdown.
Tune in at 91.7 FM in the San Francisco Bay Area or stream live at 6pm PT. What comments or questions do you have for our guests? Call 866-798-TALK to join the conversation!
Can California become a global center for lithium production for EV batteries? How sustainable is the global battery supply chain? I’ll be a guest on KQED Forum today at 10am PT to discuss, as part of the show’s “In Transit” series.
Today, Australia, Chile and China are the top three sources of worldwide lithium production. But California’s Imperial Valley contains a vast underground reserve near the Salton Sea, with enough lithium potentially to meet all of U.S. future demand and more than one-third of global demand.
Along with me to discuss this potential will be Eduardo Garcia, Assemblymember, representing California’s 36th State Assembly District in eastern Riverside County and Imperial County.
Tune in on KQED radio or stream live at 10am PT!
Tonight on State of the Bay, we’ll discuss the potential Oakland A’s move to Las Vegas with the “Bay Area Sports guy,” Steve Berman of The Athletic. He’ll also share his latest analysis of the Warriors/Kings playoff series, the state of the Giants, and more.
Plus, we’ll talk about a new report on preparing the Bay Area for rising sea levels, with an estimate that it will cost a staggering one hundred and ten billion dollars. We’ll dig into the feasibility of this. Guests will include:
- Dana Brechwald, Assistant Planning Director for Climate Adaptation at the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, or, BCDC.
- Adrian Covert, Senior Vice President of Public Policy for the Bay Area Council, or BAC.
Finally, we’ll start our series “Have you met”…where we talk to Bay Area folks that we think you should know. So have you met Chris Chatmon? Find out why you should.
What would you like to ask our guests? Post a comment here, tweet us @StateofBay, send an email to stateofthebay@kalw.org or leave a voicemail at (415) 580-0718.
Tune in tonight at 6pm PT on KALW 91.7 FM in the San Francisco Bay Area or stream live. You can also call 866-798-TALK with questions during the show.
A major new piece of housing and climate legislation was introduced in California this month, and it’s been a long time coming. AB 68 (Ward) finally sets forth a powerful template for where the state should encourage new housing and where it should avoid planning for more, based on climate and environmental hazards. It represents the culmination of a long-sought alliance between major housing advocates like California YIMBY and conservation groups like The Nature Conservancy.
So where should the state build more housing, according to AB 68? It defines those places in the following “climate smart” ways:
- In a high or moderate income area, as defined by state affordable housing tax credit maps, to prioritize more housing in high-opportunity and well-resourced areas and minimize displacement of low-income renters
- Within 1/2 mile of major transit or an area where residents drive below-average distances on a per capita average, in order to reduce overall driving miles in the state
- Within a mile of a cluster of at least six types of locations like restaurants, bars, coffee shops, supermarkets, parks and hardware stores, among others, to ensure rural and exurban infill areas aren’t left out, as well as places without access to transit.
If a housing development is proposed in these areas, the project gets “ministerial” approval (i.e. exempt from environmental review), and a local government cannot limit the development beyond any of the following:
- Setback greater than four feet from any side
- Height limit less than 50 feet
- Maximum lot coverage of less than 60 percent
- Minimum parking requirement
- Floor area ratios (i.e. the building’s total floor area in relation to the size of the lot/parcel, indicating overall density) less than 1.0. to 1.5, depending on criteria met
There are additional requirements to protect existing affordable housing and ensure consistency with SB 375 plans, among others.
And where should planning for denser development in the state be limited? AB 68 describes these “climate risk lands” as within high-severity wildfire and flood zones, or having a sea level rise risk according to the latest science. They also must be not currently zoned for housing or have existing urbanized communities on them.
In these areas, local governments cannot increase existing housing densities or allow subdivisions, and they cannot approve any extension of water or sewer services, unless certain exceptions can be met, such as an approved housing element and a statement of housing necessity, among other conditions.
In short, AB 68 finally provides the much-needed, legislatively endorsed map for where the state should grow and where it should avoid putting more people into harm’s way. If successful, AB 68 will arguably be the single biggest climate bill that the state has passed in over a decade, given the centrality of land use and housing to meeting our climate goals. The fight to pass it will not be easy, but AB 68 has a powerful coalition to support it, along with a well-conceived solution to the state’s urgent and related challenges of climate and housing.
LA Metro Rail — the sprawling network of light rail and subway lines criss-crossing Los Angeles County since the first line opened in 1993 — is facing an existential challenge. Just like other transit agencies around the country, ridership since the pandemic has plummeted, still around just two-thirds of its pre-COVID peak.
What can be done to fix it? In my new Los Angeles Times op-ed today, I offer a number of fixes. Most of it involves building more apartments and compact housing within walking distance of the Metro Rail stations, which would ensure the system isn’t reliant just on white collar office workers who are unlikely to return to work full time.
But the agency also needs to address its crime and personal safety issues, which can be partly helped by having more riders. State leaders should consider these needs if they decide to take action to rescue LA Metro and other California transit agencies facing a “fiscal cliff” as federal COVID funds expire.
I’ve been documenting Metro Rail since before the publication of my book Railtown (UC Press) in 2014. And there’s no doubt that the ridership and fiscal crisis the system now faces is the greatest in its three-decade history. Hopefully these recommendations can help the region make the most of this multi-billion dollar investment, fulfilling the economic, environmental and quality-of-life promise of rail in Los Angeles.
Join us tonight for State of the Bay’s inaugural “climate special.” We’ll hear about new and proposed climate legislation in California, discuss Bay Area cleantech startups and enjoy climate comedy.
First, we’ll talk with State Senator Josh Becker, representing the residents of California’s 13th Senate District, about climate legislation in California.
Then we’ll hear how Bay Area companies are innovating to create a cleaner, greener future for our state and beyond, even as some tech companies are choosing to move away from this region. Joining us will be Lora Kolodny, tech and climate reporter for CNBC, and Abe Yokell, managing partner and co-founder of Congruent Ventures.
And finally, we’ll laugh along with comedians Brad Einstein and Kyle Niemer, members of the inaugural climate comedy cohort created by Generation180 and the Center for Media & Social Impact. They’re goal is to inject humor into the climate change conversation.
What would you like to ask our guests? Post a comment here, tweet us @StateofBay, send an email to stateofthebay@kalw.org or leave a voicemail at (415) 580-0718.
Tune in tonight at 6pm PT on KALW 91.7 FM in the San Francisco Bay Area or stream live. You can also call 866-798-TALK with questions during the show.
