Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Ethan Elkind @ethanelkind.bsky.social · 12h

Good examples here of the impact of SB 79

Andrew Bowen (he/him) @acbowen.bsky.social · 12h

San Diego is preparing 2 community plan updates impacted by SB79: Clairemont and College. These are my rough sketches of the half-mile radii around trolley stops. Yellow is where the city wanted to keep single-family zoning.

Past coverage:
www.kpbs.org/news/local/2...
www.kpbs.org/news/quality...

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Reposted by Ethan Elkind

jael holzman @jael.bsky.social · 13h

the republican governor of utah spencer cox cites my story about esmeralda 7’s apparent cancelation to criticize the trump administration:

“this is how we lose the AI/energy arms race with china”

Spencer Cox: This is how we lose the AI/energy arms race with China. Our country needs an all-of-the-above approach to energy (like Utah). We should be all in on nuclear/natural gas/geothermal and keeping our coal plants open for as long as possible. However, there are innovation/permitting/supply chain issues slowing those down. While intermittent sources have been overvalued in the past (and offshore wind is a disaster and should be discontinued), the incredible leaps in battery technology completely change the value proposition of solar in the right places. Solar with batteries can now be close to baseload power and we should keep these projects rolling until we get the gas/nuclear/geothermal plants we need.

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Ethan Elkind @ethanelkind.bsky.social · 15h

Wonderful news for those who care about fixing California's brutal housing shortage, bolstering transit ridership, and meeting the state's climate goals!

M. Nolan Gray 🥑 @mnolangray.bsky.social · 15h

Ladies and gentlemen, we did it. SB 79 has been signed.

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Reposted by Ethan Elkind

Yonah Freemark @yonahfreemark.com · 15h

California's governor has signed SB 79, a large-scale upzoning of land near transit throughout the state's largest counties.

Joe Cohen @cohenhouse.bsky.social · 15h

WE DID IT!!!

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Ethan Elkind @ethanelkind.bsky.social · 16h

What's in store as the new Supreme Court term begins?

We'll discuss on Your Call 10am PT today w/ @chrisgeidner.bsky.social & @elienyc.bsky.social.

What are your q's for Chris & Elie?

Comment w/ them here and stream live @kalwradio.bsky.social 10am PT!
www.kalw.org/show/your-ca...

Legal experts say democracy is on the line with new Supreme Court term

The Supreme Court’s new term includes cases on presidential power, voting rights, immigrants, campaign finance, and LGBTQ youth.

www.kalw.org

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Reposted by Ethan Elkind

Max Dubler 🏳️‍🌈 @maxdubler.com · 2d

The wild success of the upzoning near the Expo/Bundy station in west LA suggests that similar transit oriented upzonings will spur significant housing construction.

Hunter Owens @hunterowens.net · 2d

man, the Expo TNP upzoning around Expo Bundy is really resulting in huge results - was at the station yesterday and saw 4 buildings under construction, and now this

la.urbanize.city/post/eight-s...

Eight-story, 42-unit development planned at 2219 S. Wellsely Avenue

In a familiar tale, single-family homes located just south of Metro's Expo/Bundy Station in Sawtelle are set to give way to apartments, according to a recent application to the Los Angeles Department ...

la.urbanize.city

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Ethan Elkind @ethanelkind.bsky.social · 2d

Worried @governor.ca.gov won't sign #SB79? I asked @scottwiener.bsky.social for his thoughts on Monday's @stateofthebay.bsky.social.

Listen to his response at 16:45 here:

www.kalw.org/show/state-b...

CA's New AI Safety Law / The Bay Area's Driverless Future/ "Fairyland"

California's landmark AI safety law, how autonomous vehicles will shape the Bay Area's future, the new movie "Fairyland"

www.kalw.org

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Reposted by Ethan Elkind

Anne Trubek @atrubek.bsky.social · 3d

Had a book published before mid-2021? Take 5 minutes to see if it's listed here and if so another 5 to enter info. And look up your grandma's book, the book of your friend, etc. and let them know

PSA: Get Your AI Money, Authors

The Anthropic settlement has been preliminarily approved, which means people can join in to be a member in this class action suit.

notesfromasmallpress.substack.com

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Ethan Elkind @ethanelkind.bsky.social · 4d

Lots of parallels between 2020s & 1920s America, as this op-ed discusses. The turmoil resolved when a new consensus emerged in the 1930s among labor, business & government elites to more fairly distribute national income. That consensus held until the 1980s.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/o...

Opinion | How to Save the American Experiment

www.nytimes.com

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Ethan Elkind @ethanelkind.bsky.social · 4d

Tonight @stateofthebay.bsky.social 6pm PT: @scottwiener.bsky.social on his new AI safety bill.

Plus: autonomous vehicles w/@jeffreytumlin.bsky.social @susanshaheen.bsky.social & Dr. William Riggs.

Finally: SF's new"Fairyland" movie.

Stream live @kalwradio.bsky.social! www.kalw.org/show/state-b...

CA's New AI Safety Law / The Bay Area's Driverless Future/ "Fairyland"

California's landmark AI safety law, how autonomous vehicles will shape the Bay Area's future, the new movie "Fairyland"

www.kalw.org

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Ethan Elkind @ethanelkind.bsky.social · 5d

Hope you’re correct. But he’s also the governor who came out against Prop 30 (tax incomes over $2m to fund EV infrastructure) at the behest of big donors, many of whom I’m guessing are now urging him to veto SB 79.

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Reposted by Ethan Elkind

San Francisco Chronicle @sfchronicle.com · 5d

Old growth forests across the West are at risk of disappearing within 50 years. The Teakettle Experimental Forest is a tragic example in California.

‘All the trees are dead’: An ancient California forest has been wiped out

Old growth forests across the West are at risk of disappearing within 50 years. The Teakettle Experimental Forest is a tragic example in California.

bit.ly

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Ethan Elkind @ethanelkind.bsky.social · 5d

Damning account by @mhurteau.bsky.social of US Forest Service foot-dragging on a prescribed burn propsal for an old-growth forest.

By the time they approved it, a massive wildfire incinerated most of the trees last month:

www.hurteaulab.org/blog/a-eulog...

A Eulogy for Teakettle

Justice William O. Douglas, in his dissenting opinion of the Supreme Court’s decision in Sierra Club v. Morton, said “Contemporary public concern for protecting nature’s ecological equilibrium...

www.hurteaulab.org

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Reposted by Ethan Elkind

David Roberts @volts.wtf · 10d

A bunch of toxic LA NIMBYs are whining about SB 79, the amazing housing bill the CA legislature passed recently.

It's on the governor's desk, and reportedly he's getting cold feet. Hey @gavinnewsom.bsky.social, please have some spine on the most important issue in your state. Just sign it.

Homeowners denounce SB 79 vote - Beverly Press & Park Labrea News

Legislation awaits governor’s signature

beverlypress.com

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Ethan Elkind @ethanelkind.bsky.social · 11d

The NIMBY argument is that more housing on the evacuation routes and egress points will back up traffic. But the way to solve the problem is reduce vegetation & improve evacuation procedures, not stifle housing exactly where it's needed most.

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Ethan Elkind @ethanelkind.bsky.social · 11d

On today's Your Call's One Planet series, we'll talk to @tbartelme.bsky.social about his new book on the invisible impacts of climate change, along with the solutions we need to address them.

Join us 10am PT - stream live @kalwradio.bsky.social:

www.kalw.org/show/your-ca...

Rising Waters: Reports from Across a Rapidly Warming World

In his new book, "Rising Waters," Tony Bartelme reveals the science, urgency, and hope behind our warming world.

www.kalw.org

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Ethan Elkind @ethanelkind.bsky.social · 12d

High-income cities in Contra Costa County got a carve out so #SB79 (statewide transit-oriented upzoning) wouldn’t apply to their BART and Amtrak stations:

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Ethan Elkind @ethanelkind.bsky.social · 14d

Then at 10:30am PT: student homelessness in California is getting worse, while Trump cuts funding to educate children of migrant farmworkers.

We'll discuss w/@isabeau.bsky.social

What q's do you have?

Join us @kalwradio.bsky.social:
www.kalw.org/show/your-ca...

Trump’s migrant program cuts threaten 250,000 children

Trump’s 2026 budget, which is set to be debated by Congress this fall, proposes eliminating all funding for the MEP, a program that has been in place for nearly 60 years.

www.kalw.org

Ethan Elkind @ethanelkind.bsky.social · 14d

Local journalism is dying, and a secretive hedge fund is plundering what's left.

We'll discuss on Your Call 10am PT w/ Rick Goldsmith & @grrlreporter.bsky.social.

Stream live @kalwradio.bsky.social!
www.kalw.org/show/your-ca...

Stripped for Parts: American Journalism on the Brink

Stripped for Parts tells the story of Alden Global Capital, a secretive hedge fund that is gutting US newspapers — and the journalists fighting to save them.

www.kalw.org

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Reposted by Ethan Elkind

Josh Becker @joshbecker.bsky.social · 14d

Check out my op-ed about how Trump promised lower energy bills but is making them worse.
#EnergyPolicy #CleanEnergy #Trump #ElectricityBills #Renewables #ClimateEconomics #caleg

www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...

Contributor: Trump is doing everything he can to raise your energy bills

The president has sabotaged clean energy development at every turn.

www.latimes.com

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Reposted by Ethan Elkind

Urbanize LA @urbanizela.bsky.social · 14d

The bill permits multifamily housing by-right near certain transit hubs

Here's where SB 79 may apply in Los Angeles

Earlier this month, the California state legislature passed SB 79, paving the way for the construction of apartment buildings near fixed-route transit lines - even if disallowed by local zoning rules.

la.urbanize.city

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Reposted by Ethan Elkind

KQED Forum @kqedforum.bsky.social · 15d

🎧 Listen to the podcast!

@kqednews.kqed.org politics correspondent Guy Marzorati and @ucberkeleylaw.bsky.social's @ethanelkind.bsky.social spoke with @mina-kim.bsky.social about new climate legislation that outlines California's ongoing transition to clean energy.

🔗:

New State Climate Plan To Reduce Energy Costs, Fortify Grid

KQED's Forum · Episode

buff.ly

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Ethan Elkind @ethanelkind.bsky.social · 15d

I'll be on KQED Forum this morning at 10am PT talking about California's new climate and energy legislation.

Tune in or stream live here!

www.kqed.org/forum/201010...

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Ethan Elkind @ethanelkind.bsky.social · 16d

If you want to learn more about the climate and energy legislation that just passed in California, tune in tomorrow at 10am PT!

KQED Forum @kqedforum.bsky.social · 16d

THU at 10AM:

@kqednews.kqed.org politics correspondent Guy Marzorati and @ucberkeleylaw.bsky.social's @ethanelkind.bsky.social join to talk about new climate legislation which outline California's ongoing transition to clean energy.

❓ What are your Qs about California's climate goals?

Newsom Signs Climate, Energy Bills Charting State Course Through Perilous ‘Mid-Transition’ | KQED

California has been at the forefront of bold climate policy. Now, the state is one of the first to face a messy transition from fossil fuels to clean energy.

buff.ly

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Ethan Elkind @ethanelkind.bsky.social · 17d

On Your Call at 10am PT, I'll interview @trymainelee.bsky.social about his new book "A Thousand Ways to Die," a personal exploration of gun violence impacts on his family & the Black community.

Post your questions for Trymaine here!

Stream live @kalwradio.bsky.social:
www.kalw.org/show/your-ca...

A Thousand Ways to Die: The True Cost of Violence on Black Life

In his new book, “A Thousand Ways to Die,” Trymaine Lee explores the generational impact of guns and gun violence on the Black experience in America.

www.kalw.org

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