AB 545 Requests UC Regents Review of Tax Expenditures

Assessment looks at total loss to the General Fund as a result of tax expenditures allowed to taxpayers
 
California Globe, Chris Micheli
 
On February 10, Assemblyman Bill Quirk (D-Hayward) introduced Assembly Bill 545 to have the University of California conduct research on California’s tax expenditures.

Here’s What California Lawmakers Want To Do To Take Action On Climate Change

Ezra David Romero, CapRadio
 
Wildfires and smoke have ravaged large parts of California, sea level rise is threatening the golden coast’s viability and drought is looming in the future. 
 
“We're in a race against the clock when it comes to climate change,” said state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco. “This is not a problem that we can take our time and solve little step by little step.

Funding independent science research in California has never been more important

Bill Quirk, Special Commentary to CalMatters

This year, California broke a sad record. We had the largest wildfire in modern history, burning more than 1 million acres over seven counties and sending choking smoke across the state. Recently, 90,000 people were evacuated from their homes in Southern California. The untold level of destruction has yet to be fully quantified or understood. One thing we do know is that the wildfires and COVID-19 have underscored the growing complexity of California’s disaster landscape. 

Assemblymember Quirk Helps Bring Mask Donation To Local Clinic

Press Release Desk, News Partner, The Patch

Assemblymember Quirk and Fremont Councilmember Teresa Keng helped direct a donation of facemasks to Tiburcio Vasquez Health Center (TVHC), a safety-net community clinic, and pillar, in southern Alameda County. The facemask donation came from the Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce of San Francisco Bay Area who through fundraising efforts managed to acquire 5,000 facemasks, which makes for a generous donation.

Could hydrogen-electric cars be crucial to meeting California’s climate goals?

Dustin Gardiner, San Francisco Chronicle

SACRAMENTO — As California pushes to end the sale of gas-powered cars by 2035, a rivalry over which types of green vehicles will replace the internal combustion engine is playing out.

The dominant player is clearly battery-powered electric cars like Teslas and Chevy Bolts. That’s for obvious reasons: California already has about 450,000 plug-in electric cars on the road and more than 67,300 charging ports.

Opinion: Hydrogen gas key to California avoiding rolling blackouts

It’s a fuel that produces zero carbon emissions and can be stored for use during surges in electricity demand

BILL QUIRK, Mercury News

There is a lesson to be learned about California’s electrical power system from the record heat that scorched the Western United States in August – and it’s not the trumped-up assertions that the need for limited rolling blackouts was the result of this state’s commitment to renewable power.

Lawmakers Question Batjer on PG&E's Rolling Blackouts

Tribune News Service

Acting on an order from Gov. Gavin Newsom, the California Independent System Operator, the California Energy Commission and the Public Utilities Commission last week released a preliminary root-cause analysis into the first rolling blackouts in California since 2001.

How California Will Prepare Its Infrastructure for More Climate Catastrophes

Jason Barbose, Western States Policy Manager: Union of Concerned Scientists (Blog)

With climate change here and getting worse, we must adapt our lives to live with it. One change we must make is how we account for climate change in infrastructure projects. When we fail to appropriately consider climate change in the design and maintenance of infrastructure the results are not pretty: dams break, the power goes out, roads and bridges flood, and groundwater wells dry up.

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