The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) is among the most significant environmental laws on the books in the United States. Its best attribute is that it included for the first time explicit consideration of the environment in the planning process. But CEQA, in addition to being unreasonably costly in practice, may not actually protect the environment very well. The process of CEQA has come to dominate the substance of CEQA, and hence too many environmental reviews result in 1000-plus page reports whose primary purpose is to avoid litigation rather than to aid agency decision-makers in their deliberations.

The terms of the global warming treaty that the Clinton-Gore Administration agreed to in Kyoto, Japan last December would, if implemented, commit the U.S. to severe restrictions in “greenhouse gas” emissions. Targets set for sharp cutbacks – which the Administration has promised to achieve by the period 2008 to 2012 – would be the first step in the Administration’s plan for long-term reductions in emissions. As explained in this report, these actions would adversely affect every individual, family, organization, and community in California. Less energy would be available for Californians or prices of energy would rise dramatically, or both.