California CEQA-el Promises more Green Buildings, says Consultant
Newly elected California Attorney General Jerry Brown (yes, the former Governor) is pushing to have large development project environmental impact reports require a “carbon mitigation” plan, before they are certified as complete under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). This should dramatically accelerate consideration of energy efficiency and other carbon mitigation strategies in new developments.
Latest news from the development front: California Attorney General Jerry Brown says large/regional development project Environmental Impact Reports (EIRs) need a carbon mitigation plan before they can be deemed complete. No EIR, no development, unless you want to fight the Attorney General’s considerable powers. Developers of large projects in California that may have regional impacts will need an aggressive energy efficiency and renewables strategy to meet this requirement, I’m guessing, as well as a transit-oriented development approach. That means that marketers and technical people should start pushing these technologies and planning approaches to developer clients as a way to comply with the new state requirements. Now that the U.S. Supreme Court says carbon dioxide must be regulated as an air pollutant, look for more action on energy efficiency, green buildings and renewables from Attorneys General in many states.
Posted by on 05/23/2007 at 09:10 AM
