New California Sustainability Laws

By Theodore L. Senet, Esq.*

I. INTRODUCTION

Over the past decade, California has enacted a comprehensive set of sustainability laws and regulations that are transforming the economy by generating opportunities and funding for renewable energy generation, energy efficiency measures in our buildings, and the implementation of clean transportation programs, which in turn have attracted venture capital and spurred the development of a clean energy economy.

This article explores how new California policies and laws could create the world’s first major economy to abandon fossil fuels as its primary energy source. The transformation to a clean energy economy is occurring through: (1) building optimization; (2) renewable power generation; and (3) clean transportation. As new technologies are implemented through these sustainability laws and regulations, market forces will inevitably transform energy generation and consumption.