Will Technology Save Us? It Might Have To
Battery innovations provide at least some source for hope despite the Trump Administration's war on renewable energy
There is little good out there, but it was nice to see this graphic recently. It's a graphic of the daily energy usage in California broken down by source and by time period, according to the California Independent System Operator. That's why you can see the yellow-gold area, representing solar capacity, expand during the daytime -- that's when the sun is out. And there is good news there: between 2023 and 2025, there is a significant increase in solar ...
CONTINUE READINGA Strangely Important Case about… Boilers?
UCLA Law's clinic files Ninth Circuit brief in defense of core air pollution control authority.
When I think about sources responsible for LA's air pollution, I don't first think about water heaters, boilers, and other medium-scale appliances. But it turns out that appliances that burn natural gas to heat water are, in aggregate, an incredibly significant source of nitrogen oxides (NOx), an air pollutant that worsens smog and causes serious health harms. And our air regulators know this very well. When South Coast AQMD recently issued a rule to eliminate NOx emissi...
CONTINUE READINGHalloween Hacks for a Warming Planet
Pretty or scary or brave? There’s a climate costume to suit all tastes and all ages.
Children will be roaming the streets tonight dressed as Superheroes, Princesses, and Evil Villains. But really, these invented figures can’t hold a candle to the real ones in our world. Consider Continuing an ancient tradition -- four years in a row! -- here are some possibilities for this year. Not fitting neatly into any category are the Ghosts of Climate Past, Present, and Future, reminding us of what we've lost, where we are, and what we risk. The Villains ...
CONTINUE READINGWhat Went Wrong with News Coverage of the LA Fires
The Drain is a weekly roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.
When disaster strikes your town, you rely on journalists to help explain what happened and why. Last January, many of us in Los Angeles turned to The LA Times as unusual firestorms kicked up and ultimately destroyed parts of Altadena and Pacific Palisades. The LAT’s journalists and photojournalists did incredible coverage from lots of angles, and the paper did a public service by dropping its paywall. But there was also a problem: Very few of the stories, vid...
CONTINUE READING3 Lessons for a Regional Western Electricity Market
California is paving the way for the creation of an independent regional organization to oversee Western energy markets. It can learn from mistakes made in other regions.
In case you missed it among all the other news, the California legislature passed AB 825 in September (and Gov. Gavin Newsom signed it as part of the big energy package), paving the way for the creation of an independent regional organization to oversee Western energy markets. This presents a whole set of interesting challenges and opportunities after years of failed attempts. AB 825 builds on the work done by the West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative. Laun...
CONTINUE READINGEnvironmental Groups and the New McCarthyism
The Administration's search for a vast leftwing conspiracy could ensnare some environmental groups.
The White House has said that a vast, left-wing network is radicalizing people and inciting violence across America. There is no evidence to support this. But the allegation could provide a pretext for investigating and harassing many progressive groups, environmental groups among them. This remains uncertain, but there are clearly grounds for concern. Environmental groups are not oblivious to the threat. Environmental organizations are beginning to take precautio...
CONTINUE READINGThe Roberts Court and the End of the Rule of Law
Photo by Jesse Collins, unsplash
The Great Enablers
Like most law school graduates, I believe in the rule of law and its central role in preserving and extending democracy. Sadly, despite protestations to the contrary, the Roberts Court has moved the country away from that concept, ignoring legal precedent, making up doctrines not referenced in the Constitution, abusing the shadow docket, turning the notion of status quo for preliminary injunctions on its head, and, most decidedly, casting aside a central tenet of the ...
CONTINUE READINGHow “Passive Virtues” Destroy the Constitution
Judicial restraint has become a license for dictatorship.
Never has the adage that A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words been more appropriate. Donald Trump has destroyed much of the federal government and much of the Constitution, so now he is destroying the White House – in this case, to build a horrific 90,000 square foot ballroom paid for by “private contributors,” who will expect favors in response. But it also points to the failure of one of the most celebrated mid-century legal theories – Alexander Bickel’s ce...
CONTINUE READINGManila Protests Over Environment Follow a Rich Tradition
Happy Filipino American History Month. Here’s a look at Filipino-led protests for environmental justice.
The Philippines made international news last month when several tens of thousands of protestors took over the streets of Manila to express their outrage over the government’s embezzlement of over a trillion Philippine pesos (approximately $17.6 billion USD) designated for flood control projects. Losing this amount of climate-designated funds to corruption would be problematic anywhere in the world, but it is particularly impactful in the Philippines, where the govern...
CONTINUE READINGThe Legal Barricades Protecting State Climate Policy
The general legal landscape favors state regulatory efforts.
Trump has included state climate policies on his enemies list. He’s going to find that they’ve got a lot more legal protection than many of his other targets. The Supreme Court, if anything, seems to lean a bit toward increasing current protections for states. And Congress has given state environmental and energy policies powerful defenses from federal overreach. There’s no question that Trump despises states that have the temerity to pursue their own climat...
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