Environmental due diligence is one of the most important steps in any commercial or industrial real estate deal. Buyers need to know whether a property’s past uses could create cleanup obligations—and whether they can protect themselves under federal and state environmental laws. When done correctly, due diligence helps prevent expensive surprises and positions buyers to move forward confidently.
California has nearly a quarter of a million documented oil and gas wells—some dating back to the late 1800s. Many of these are aging, idle, or abandoned.
California has long served as the nation’s policy laboratory for climate action, and Senate Bill 100 (“SB 100”) stands as one of its most ambitious experiments.
Sea level rise is no longer a distant or abstract threat—it is already reshaping California’s shoreline. Each year, higher tides creep further inland, storm surges bite more deeply into fragile bluffs, and low-lying neighborhoods see familiar streets turned into temporary waterways.
Humans like to believe in their permanence. We tend to think we’ve always been here and always will be. Our creativity, technology, and determination make us feel unstoppable.
Environmental rollbacks occur when laws, regulations, or enforcement measures designed to protect the environment are weakened, delayed, or repealed. These rollbacks can take many forms, from reduced emission standards to weakened water quality protections or scaled-back requirements for hazardous waste management.
On most days in 2025, California’s electric grid runs entirely on clean energy for an average of seven hours. Not long ago, this would have seemed unthinkable. Today, it’s evidence of a transformation underway—one that has implications for every business, community, and policymaker in the state.
Travel is the best. It offers a fresh perspective on how other countries interact with their natural resources. As an environmental lawyer, I’ve learned it’s nearly impossible to turn that part of my brain off, even on vacation listening to the sound of waves or feeling the aggression of wind in my hair.
The “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) agenda raises concerns many experts share: chronic disease, chemical exposures, pesticide runoff, and environmental decline are real issues that deserve serious attention.
In California, environmental regulatory agencies such as the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) and Regional Water Quality Control Boards have historically issued “No Further Action” (NFA) or “closure” letters to confirm that a site has been sufficiently investigated and/or remediated to meet the agency’s standards.
When you head to the beach, you probably check the weather, pack sunscreen, and maybe glance at the surf report. But behind the scenes, a network of environmental regulations and monitoring programs works every day to protect swimmers from harmful pollution.
In a recent interview with Forbes senior editor Maggie McGrath, Jennifer Novak discussed a controversial proposal by House Republicans to sell or swap thousands of acres of public land in Western states like Nevada and Utah.
