Articles

Sacramento, CA; April 16, 2013: Attorneys with Pacific Legal Foundation today filed a lawsuit challenging California’s “cap and trade” auction regulation. The regulation creates a quarterly auction program requiring many California employers to bid significant amounts of money for the privilege of continuing to emit carbon dioxid ...

Limited Government — Tax Limitations We filed our petition and complaint in Morning Star Packing Company v. California Air Resources Board.  This is the case where we allege that California’s unique system of creating an auction for emission credits under AB 32 violates the California Constitution because scheme to raise billions of do ...

On Friday, August 9, 2013, I’ll be speaking to lawyers from around the nation converging at the annual meeting of the American Bar Association in San Francisco, regarding PLF’s legal challenge to CARB’s Cap and Trade Regulation.  The regulation is the only one of its kind among the 50 states, and the lawsuit has garnered natio ...

During the 3:00-3:30 half hour, I will be joining Cathy Abernathy, who is filling in as host for Ralph Bailey on KERN 1180 in Bakersfield.  If you are not in the area, you can listen in on the web here.  We will be talking about PLF’s environmental practice, including topics like Endangered Species, Prop 65, … ...

Today is a big day for all things greenhouse gas, with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change releasing its Fifth Assessment Report.  Earlier this week, the similarly named (but differently purposed) Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change released its latest report, Climate Change Reconsidered II: Physical Science.  These tw ...

Today the trial court ruled against PLF’s clients on its AB 32 claims, holding that AB 32 authorized the auctions and that the auction revenues were not unconstitutional taxes.   Morning Star Packing Company v. CARB, DECISION111413.  We strongly disagree with the ruling and will appeal to the California Court of Appeal, where the appella ...

This Thursday, June 12th, I will be arguing PLF’s challenge to Plan Bay Area in Alameda County Superior Court. As readers will recall, PLF’s client Bay Area Citizens challenges the plan — and its dozens of significant environmental impacts — because the agencies misled public and failed to property analyze the impacts of the ...

You read that correctly. Today, California motorists have the right to buy as much gasoline as they want, and fuel companies have the right to sell as much as they can supply, at prices agreeable to both. But in the New Year, California will limit sales of gasoline, diesel, and natural gas and propane for business and … ...

Last week, the California Legislature resoundingly rejected Governor’s Brown’s efforts to cut carbon dioxide emissions beyond the levels required by AB 32, which requires California to reduce emissions in the state to 1990 levels by 2020.  The proposed new law, known oddly enough as SB 32, would have required substantial further reduct ...