Surveying California's Recent Environmental Accomplishments

The survey by Jon Christensen and Mark Gold, "[starts] with what we would have liked to have seen this past year, and then what we predicted would happen. We end with what really happened and what we can look forward to in 2015 and beyond."

The list includes ten items, starting local, like the as-yet-unrealized goal to create a sustainable city plan for Los Angeles. The list also touches on the approval of a plan for the restoration of the Los Angeles River by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, a statewide ban on plastic bags, and comprehensive reform of the state's water management. On that last issue, Christensen and Gold note the progress made in the past year: "The state got more done on water supply management in 2014 than over the previous 10 years combined, maybe even the past two decades. It took a drought, strong legislative leadership, and most of all, a governor who declared a drought emergency and emboldened his staff to move forward with strong implementation of the California Water Action Plan."