Both houses of the California legislature have passed a bill called SB-32 which would tell the California Air Resources Board "to ensure that statewide greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to 40% below the 1990 level by 2030." The state's Democratic governor has issued a statement indicating that he intends to sign it into law.
The Western States Petroleum Association and the California Manufacturers & Technology Association expressed their opposition to the bill.
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(Score: 1) by tftp on Wednesday August 31 2016, @04:07PM
As a personal anecdote, I experienced both the homeowner's burdens and the renter's uncertainty. I am renting now and have no plans to go back to owning a house in any foreseeable future. Not until I retire, at least - and even then it might be a few hundred miles away from everything. A private home requires too much work, and you are paying for the whole army of contractors who come to you at random time to very inefficiently perform repairs, for which they charge ridiculous money. At a rental place most of that is handled by the staff, and I do not need to deal with mowing, cleaning, appliances, water leaks, electrical issues, and everything else. I can focus on my life. I don't need to wait for three contractors to come and give me quotes. Also, as a renter, I am highly mobile, whereas a homeowner is anchored to his house.
Highrises could be a solution, and technically they can be built. They are built in Japan even. But the vast majority of the land is covered by one-story buildings, private homes among those. No surprise that we ran out of the land. Private homes will never be sufficient for such industrial area, they just don't provide enough population density, and they require cars to even get to a store. We don't need to build an arcology yet, but someone, like the planning commission, should ensure that many highrises are constructed as apartments. Otherwise it will be 100% businesses and zero workers.
Some say that there is no water. Desalination plants are needed, working on nuclear power. This land is valuable enough just because of what is already here.