Latest news with #environmentalreform
The Independent
3 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
Water industry review unlikely to spark required change, claims Feargal Sharkey
Water campaigner Feargal Sharkey says he believes a landmark review into the water industry will not produce changes the public and customers desperately need. The Independent Water Commission, led by former Bank of England deputy governor Sir Jon Cunliffe, will outline recommendations to turn around the floundering sector in its final report on Monday, with claims it will lead to the abolition of embattled water regulator Ofwat. But former Undertones frontman Sharkey, who has become a leading campaigner for water companies to clean up their act, said he fears the highly anticipated report will be a 'flat pancake'. He told the PA news agency: 'We were promised that the report will bring us champagne – but it will just be a saucer of milk.' Sharkey, who has given evidence to MPs on the need for reform and has spoken at numerous public and trade union meetings, said he does not believe 'much will happen' as a result of the report's findings. 'Sir Jon's job is to make the current system better, but so many things have not been considered in his review, such as the ownership of the water companies. 'I also don't think you can talk about abolishing Ofwat without considering the future of the Environment Agency – and taking a long, hard look at the Environment Department (Defra), as well as the lack of action from government ministers for many years. They are just as culpable.' Sharkey said governments have had the power to punish water companies over sewage pollution, or the 'scandal' of paying huge bonuses to bosses, but had chosen not to use them for years. He believes the public and customers have been treated with 'contempt' by water companies for years despite outrage over sewage pollution of rivers and waterways. He added the fact that the review had been held was a victory for the many small community groups across the country set up to tackle the crisis. The review was commissioned by the UK and Welsh governments as part of their response to systemic industry failures, which include rising bills, record sewage spills and debt-ridden company finances, although ministers have ruled out nationalising companies. A Government spokesperson pointed out that unfair bonuses have been banned for senior executives at six water companies under new measures which came into force last month. The Government said at the time that transformative change across the water sector was needed to clean up rivers, lakes and seas, and modernise the sector for decades to come. Under the rules, companies are not permitted to pay bonuses to water bosses that oversee poor environmental and customer outcomes.
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Can weaker environmental rules help fight climate change? California just bet yes.
Earlier this week, California lawmakers passed among the most sweeping reforms to the state's environmental regulations in more than half a century. The measures were primarily intended to boost housing construction and urban density in the Golden State, which faces among the most severe housing shortages in the U.S. Though the move was celebrated by Governor Gavin Newsom as he signed the bills into law, it has exposed tensions between the progressive priorities that motivate Democratic lawmakers. Housing affordability advocates have clashed with those promoting environmental justice, with the former boosting the bills and the latter remaining wary. More broadly, the move exposes divisions between those who want more tools to mitigate climate change and environmentalists who would rather maintain strict limits on what can be built and how. The reforms target the California Environmental Quality Act, which then-governor Ronald Reagan signed more than 50 years ago. Known as CEQA, the legislation requires public agencies and decision-makers to evaluate the environmental impact of any project requiring government approval, and to publicize any effects and mitigate them if say the law has prevented or altered scores of projects that would have been detrimental to the environment or Californians' quality of life. But CEQA has also become the basis for a regular stream of formal complaints and lawsuits that pile substantial costs and delays onto projects that are ultimately found to have minimal harmful effects — sometimes killing them entirely. In one infamous instance, opponents of student housing near the University of California, Berkeley argued that the associated noise would constitute environmental pollution under CEQA, which led to a three-year legal battle that the university only won after it went to the state Supreme Court. Examples like this have led CEQA, which was once a national symbol of environmental protection, to become vilified as a cause of the state's chronic housing shortage. After this week's reforms, most urban housing projects will now be exempt from the CEQA process. The new legislation also excepts many zoning changes from CEQA, as well as certain nonresidential projects including health clinics, childcare centers, and advanced manufacturing facilities, like semiconductor and nanotech plants, if they are sited in areas already zoned for industrial uses. (A related bill also freezes most updates to building efficiency and clean energy standards until 2031, angering climate advocates who otherwise support the push for denser housing.) Governor Newsom used a budgetary process to push the long-debated changes into law, with strong bipartisan support. Some activists welcomed the changes, saying they will lead to denser 'infill' housing on vacant or underutilized urban land, slower growth in rents and home prices, and shorter commutes — with the welcome byproduct of fewer planet-warming emissions. 'For those that view climate change as one of the key issues of our time, infill housing is a critical solution,' read one op-ed supporting the measures. Other environmentalists, however, lambasted the changes as environmentally destructive giveaways to developers. After Newsom signed the legislation, the Sierra Club California put out a statement calling the changes 'half-baked' measures that 'will have destructive consequences for environmental justice communities and endangered species across California.' At a time when President Donald Trump's assaults on climate policy and environmental protections have galvanized opposition from the left, what unfolded in California serves as a reminder that, even among Democrats, a divide remains on the extent to which regulation can help — or hurt — the planet. It's the type of pickle that liberals across the country may increasingly face on issues ranging from zoning to permitting reform for renewable energy projects, which can face costly delays when they encounter procedural hurdles like CEQA. (Indeed, in California, CEQA has been an impediment to not just affordable housing but also solar farms and high-speed rail.) 'How do we make sure the regulations we pass to save the planet don't harm the planet?' asked Matt Lewis, director of communications for California YIMBY, a housing advocacy organization and proponent of the CEQA reforms. Transportation accounts for the largest portion of California's carbon footprint, and Lewis argues that denser housing will be key to keeping people closer to their jobs. But, he said, people with a 'not in my backyard' attitude have abused CEQA to slow down those beneficial projects. (His organization's name is a play on this so-called NIMBY disposition, with YIMBY standing for 'yes in my backyard.') 'One of the leading causes of climate pollution is the way we permit or do not permit housing to be built in urban areas,' Lewis said, adding that more urban development could reduce pressure to build on unused land in more sensitive areas. He pointed to other legal backstops, like state clean water and air laws, that can accomplish the environmental protection goals often cited by supporters of the CEQA process. 'CEQA isn't actually the most powerful law to make sure that manufacturing facilities and other industrial facilities protect the environment,' he said. In short, Lewis believes that any downsides of the new reforms pale in comparison to their benefits for both people and the planet. 'Did we fix it perfectly this time? I'm willing to admit, no,' he said, adding that any shortcomings that environmentalists are concerned about could be repaired in future legislative sessions. But many environmentalists contend that the downsides in the new legislation are too large.'We put one foot forward but we take another step back,' said Miguel Miguel, director of Sierra Club California, noting his opposition to the nonresidential exemptions. He said that CEQA often acts as a first line of defense that allows community input on development projects. Without it, he argues, community voices will be marginalized. Miguel speaks from personal experience: CEQA helped save the mobile home park where he grew up from being replaced by more expensive apartments. Kim Delfino, an environmental attorney and consultant who followed the legislation, said that the scope of the reforms expanded from simple support for urban housing development to become 'a potpourri of industry and developer desires.' She added that CEQA requires biological surveys that can be the first step to invoking other environmental protections. 'If you never look, you will never know if there are endangered species there,' she said. 'We've decided to take a head-in-the-sand approach.' This impasse between environmentalists and housing-focused advocates like Lewis is now decades-old and among the reasons that CEQA reforms — or rollbacks, depending on whom you ask — have taken so long to come about. As the fight has drawn out, skepticism has become entrenched. 'Maybe I'm wrong,' California YIMBY's Lewis said of his optimism that the latest changes can thread the needle between the state's housing needs and environmental priorities. But, he added, he'd rather defer to elected lawmakers than environmentalists, who have long opposed his housing advocacy. 'The environmental movement in California has been fundamentally dishonest about housing,' he charged. The Sierra Club's Miguel, for his part, hopes for more cooperation between the competing parties, lest the disagreements poison future legislative efforts. At the end of the day, all parties involved share the same broad goals, if with different levels of emphasis. 'We have to do everything and anything all at once,' he said, referring to climate and environmental policy. 'That is fine art.' This story was originally published by Grist with the headline Can weaker environmental rules help fight climate change? California just bet yes. on Jul 2, 2025.
Washington Post
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Gov. Newsom signs housing bill overhauling California's landmark environmental law
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law an overhaul of California's landmark environmental protection rules that he says is essential to address the state's critical housing shortage and long-running homeless crisis. The Democratic governor widely seen as a potential 2028 presidential candidate called the two-bill package a historic reshaping of environmental rules that, while initially well intentioned, too often resulted in tangles of litigation and costly delays that strangled much-needed development.
The Independent
03-06-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Interim water review ‘not the finishing line' to fix failures, campaigners warn
The National Water Commission's interim review of the sector is 'not the finishing line' to fixing the failing system, environmentalists have warned. The independent commission, headed by Sir Jon Cunliffe, said the water sector in England and Wales needs a 'fundamental reset' as it published a report on Tuesday. The panel of experts called for a rebalancing of Ofwat's regulatory role, urged the Government to provide clearer direction, proposed greater regional decision-making around local water systems and a greater focus on long-term responsible investment and ownership in the sector. Reacting to the report, Wildlife And Countryside Link (WCL), a coalition of 89 nature organisations, said ministers must start work now on vital reforms that will cut pollution, restore nature and reform water companies' governance. The groups said the Government must not only follow the advice of the report but go further, highlighting that the review stops short of final recommendations. Richard Benwell, WCL's chief executive, said: 'This interim report is a clear signpost, not a finishing line. 'The public are rightly angry about pollution and regulatory failure, and nature is in crisis. 'Politicians must stop equivocating and set clear strategic direction for environmental recovery. 'Where in the past polluters have got away with profiteering, public interest tests must be built into every layer of operations and governance with consequences for failure.' Mark Lloyd, chief executive of The Rivers Trust, said: 'Water is fundamental for nature's recovery, for the growth of the economy, for the health and security of communities and for life itself. 'We will press the commission over the next month to shoot for the stars rather than the moon in its final report. 'We will then expect to see the Government move swiftly and boldly to realise this high level of ambition.' Ali Morse, water policy manager at The Wildlife Trusts, said: 'The commission's interim report emerges at a time when environmental protections are under threat from proposed planning laws, and budgets for nature look set to be slashed. 'This doesn't look like the actions of a Government that is serious about restoring our chalk streams, or averting the extinction of water vole and Atlantic salmon. 'To convince us otherwise, we need to see Government responding with measures that ensure water companies prioritise the health of rivers and seas, that past harms are made good, that other sectors too play their role, and that environmental regulators are equipped and supported to do their jobs.' Two organisations, River Action and Surfers Against Sewage, went further to say the interim review stops well short of real reform and offers few concrete solutions. They argued that it does not match up with the Government's manifesto commitments and speaks more about attracting investors than cleaning up pollution and serving the public. James Wallace, chief executive of River Action, said: 'This interim report signals some progress on regulation, but it reads more like a sales pitch to international investors and overpaid CEOs than the urgent restructuring of corrupted water companies. 'We ask the commission to learn from other countries how to ensure water companies are owned, financed and operated for public benefit.' Giles Bristow, chief executive of Surfers Against Sewage, said: 'The criminal behaviour, chronic lack of investment and woeful mismanagement which has led to sewage-filled seas is a direct result of our profit-driven system. 'This interim report begins to recognise this, but as yet does not spell out the need to end pollution for profit. 'The commission's final recommendations must reshape the water industry to put public health and the environment first.'
