Climate Policy

Climate Change and “The Chosen One”

The plan of this messianic figure is clear — expanding fossil fuels and eliminating climate action.

A leading presidential candidate recently reposted a video that called him  the “Chosen One,” echoing the view of many of his followers that God has chosen him to lead the country. “And on June 14, 1946,” the video tells us, “God looked down on his planned paradise and said, ‘I need a caretaker.’ So God …

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How Can Cities Ensure EV Charging Accessibility for Lower-Income Drivers?

Watsonville, California as a Case Study for Policymakers

California’s ambitious goal to end the sale of internal combustion engine passenger vehicles by 2035 will require addressing the challenges faced by lower- and moderate-income drivers in accessing battery-powered electric vehicles (EVs). Chief among these concerns is their need to have a convenient and affordable place to charge the vehicles. Currently these residents too often …

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How much should we worry about climate tipping points?

A new report suggests climate tipping events may be inevitable, and urges transformative approaches to climate policy

It’s hard to keep up with the deluge of climate news around COP28. Climate damages are growing. Carbon budgets are running out. Temperature records are being re-written. Despite new pledges, climate action remains hugely insufficient and grossly unfair. And the world may be unable to avoid passing critical climate tipping points. That last comes from …

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Climate Change and the Hard-Headed Realist

Henry Kissinger showed that you don’t have to have a shred of idealism to favor climate action.

It’s not surprising that Bernie Sanders said, rather emphatically, that he was not a friend of Kissinger’s.  Yet there was one issue where they did agree:  climate change. If there was one thing that Henry Kissinger stood for, it was the hard-headed “realist” view of foreign policy — a view that prioritizes national interest at …

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CLEE-Proposed Climate Risk Disclosure Legislation Passes CA Legislature

SB 261 results from CLEE report recommendation

The California Legislature passed two path-breaking climate risk disclosure bills this week. Both bills now go to Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk where he has until October 14th to sign them. Senate Bill 261 (Stern) requires major corporations to disclose climate change related financial risks, using a framework consistent with that of the Task Force on Climate …

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Default and the Environment

What are the environmental impacts of Uncle Sam’s failure to pay his debts on time?

A journalist asked me how a default might impact environmental law. As I thought about it, I realized that the answers were, “In one way, very little,” and “In another way, potentially a disaster.”  The effects might not amount to much. Or we could be talking about multigenerational climate impacts. There’s  a lot of uncertainty  …

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The Biden Power Plant Rule and the Major Question Doctrine

The new rule has hardly any of the features that caused the Supreme Court to strike down the Obama rule.

We’ve already started to hear claims that the Biden power plant rule falls under the major question doctrine, which the Supreme Court used to strike down Obama’s Clean Power Plan. Are those claims plausible? Consider the aspects of the Clean Power Plan that the Supreme Court found objectionable. I’ve identified eight factors that the Court …

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The Car Rule and the Major Questions Doctrine

Claims that the new rule violates the doctrine are groundless.

Ever since the Supreme Court decided West Virginia v. EPA, conservatives and industry interests have claimed that just about every new regulation violates the major question doctrine. When the Biden Administration ramped up fuel efficiency requirements through 2026, ideologues such as the Heartland Institute and states like Texas were quick to wheel out this attack. …

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Unprecedented Legal Questions

The climate crisis is unprecedented. So is its legal fallout.

In teaching my class on Climate Law, I’ve been struck by how many new legal questions courts are confronting as a result of the climate crisis.  Dealing with these new legal questions is going to put stress on existing legal doctrines and require courts to rethink some basic principles.  Unfortunately, the Supreme Court is pushing …

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Climate Policy’s “Plan B”

As the initial top-down approach failed, a new approach to climate policy crystalized.

My last blog post told the story of the original top-down approach to climate policy. It was supposed to feature binding restrictions on carbon emissions in a global treaty and federal legislation. By 2012, it was plain that neither half of this “Plan A” strategy was in the offing. Building on trends that had begun …

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