California Foundation On The Environment And The Economy

Programs: Cfee conducts public policy discussion forums to facilitate a free and open exchange of views between top regulatory and elected officials, industry executives, labor, consumer and environmental leaders and academic experts. Conference topics in 2017 included:roundtable workshop on transportation infrastructurethis conference discussed past successes california has had with alternative delivery for transportation projects. It featured a status update on the state's vehicle miles traveled (vmt) pilot program and an overview of what it will take to transition to a road user charge. The conference included a review of major project proposals in california and discussion of the tools regional transportation agencies (rtas), as well as caltrans, require to deliver projects with best value for the public revenues spent, as well as meeting conservation, climate, and environmental mandates already in place. Information and communication technologies (ict) roundtable conferencethis conference briefed legislators, regulators, and the governor's senior advisors on the customer-driven and technology-fueled transition to a more connected future that entails the continuing investmenet in communications and broadband infrastructure in all parts of california. Topics included: ensuring that california stays at the forefront of technological innovation and remains attactive for investment in the ict sector, understanding the technology behind delivery of future networks (including the 5g wireless standard broadband and cable network innovations), enabling networks that can power autonomous vehicles in urban and agricultural settings, and the need for denser "small cell" data networks to improve street-level demand and meet "internet of things" requirements. Roundtable energy summitthis conference examined california's 2030 energy and climate targets and discussed the challenges that may become roadblocks on the path to 2030. Disruptive changes in the energy sector can provide opportunities if california moves carefully and strategically to enable the technologies, markets, and policies to stimulate innovation and competition to drive down prices to consumers. The purpose of the roundtable was to identify and discuss the gaps where policy clarity is needed to ensure a smooth transition to achieve ambitious energy and climate goals. Roundtable water conferencethis conference convened state legislators and regulators, members of the governor's cabinet, regional and local water managers, and senior industry, environmental, and labor leaders to explore how they can partner with each other, community groups, and concerned organizations to prepare for the "new normal" in california's precipitation patterns. The new normal is typified by annual swings from drought to downpour which challenge the way that agencies must manage the systems. The following topics were discussed: incenting and implementing technological innovations for managing water (including increased "crop per drop"), improved forecasting of atmospheric rivers, incenting the consolidation of small water systems into more developed systems, repurposing existing facilities, identifying and enabling management of acquifers, and construction of new surface storage and conveyance.

cfee conducts study travel projects for state and local elected and appointed officials, labor and environmental leaders, and representatives from the private sector. Study travel projects facilitate the exchange of information between public and private sectors in the us and their foreign coutnerparts. The 2017 study-travel project visited the united kingdom, finland, and ireland. The project focused on three primary topics: consumer choice in the energy sector and how it affects climate goals traffic congestion pricing and the rise of mobility as a service integration of renewable energy into the grid and the role of pumped storage