The Promise and Growing Pains of Managed Aquifer Recharge
By Dave Owen, Helen E. Dahlke, Andrew T. Fisher, Ellen Bruno, and Michael Kiparsky
Around the world, groundwater mismanagement is a major driver of water crises. An emerging method for addressing such mismanagement, called managed aquifer recharge, has generated excitement among scholars and water managers. In a newly published article (Owen et al. 2025), we argue that this excitement, while often justified, should also be tempered by acknowledgment of MAR’s limitations. We also identify policy changes that can help MAR succeed. MAR’s pote...
CONTINUE READINGThe CPUC Makes Good on Neighborhood Electrification
The state’s gas utilities tried to delay priority zones for decarbonization. The CPUC rejected that approach and has selected priority neighborhoods.
Here's something to celebrate: the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) released its proposed decision designating initial priority neighborhood decarbonization zones. Loyal readers of Legal Planet will have followed our coverage on SB 1221, a law passed last fall that allows the CPUC to support “neighborhood decarbonization zones” to transition away from natural gas toward zero-emissions alternatives. Phasing out natural gas in favor of electrified...
CONTINUE READINGRed States and the American Free Enterprise Chamber of Commerce are Climate Champions?
The hypocrisy in Iowa v. Wright is nauseating.
Guess which parties made the following arguments about climate change in a recently decided Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals case, Iowa v. Wright? A group of red states and the American Free Enterprise Chamber of Commerce (AMFREE). The case involves an obscure but important formula, known as the Petroleum Efficiency Factor (PEF), applied when automakers use electric vehicles to comply with fuel economy standards (the "CAFE" standards) by assigning eac...
CONTINUE READINGPointing a Finger at Methane
UCLA launches the STOP Methane Project with Top 25 in '25 lists of methane super-polluters.
Almost exactly 10 years ago, I got a call from a Los Angeles city leader asking if I'd be willing to attend a town hall in Porter Ranch, California, to help field questions about the unfolding disaster that was the Aliso Canyon natural gas leak, to provide background on environmental law for the discussion. As many of you know and may even remember, the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility leaked an enormous amount of gas into nearby neighborhoods for four month...
CONTINUE READINGTurning Conservative Legal Theories Against Trump
Is the risk of legitimizing bad ideas worth it? Maybe so, under the circumstances.
Should we use conservatives’ ideas to fight the current threat to democracy and the rule of law? Can we afford not to? For decades, conservatives have been obsessed with the idea of a runaway federal government crushing everything in its path. They’ve been successful in promoting ideas to rein in Leviathan, at a time when by our lights the government was behaving very reasonably. But now we really do have a rampaging federal government. Conservative ideas c...
CONTINUE READINGWhat the Hell Happened To The Sierra Club?
Its recent implosion over left-wing politics shows a trend that threatens environmental advocacy.
In an era of growing American fascism, for progressive organizations, there are successful strategies, and unsuccessful strategies. And then there is the Sierra Club, which appears to have destroyed itself, according to a depressing and enraging expose in the New York Times (co-written by David Fahrenthold, one of their best reporters): “Sierra Club is in a downward spiral,” a group of managers wrote in a letter reviewed by The New York Times to the club’s lea...
CONTINUE READINGAmerica’s Dirty Pictures: The Forgotten ‘Documerica’ Reminds Us How Far We’ve Come
The Documerica project, housed at the National Archives, provides a vivid window into environmental destruction circa the 1970s.
In recent decades, environmental laws have not only been challenged in courts and Congress; they’ve also taken a verbal beating. They’ve been denounced as “job killers”, “government overreach,” “radical environmentalism,” a “war on coal,” and, lately, just “woke.” It’s become all too easy to focus on the costs of regulation and forget why we adopted them in the first place. Or worse, to take their benefits for granted. This is a consequence ...
CONTINUE READINGThe Lingering Legal Issue of California’s Limits on Vehicle Emissions
The issues are complex, but the state has some strong legal arguments on its side.
Although Congress vetoed California's most recent vehicle regulations, the state can pass new regulations so long as there are significant differences from the ones Congress overturned. The Trump Administration has been arguing all along that California lacks the power to regulate greenhouse gases from vehicles. Those regulations are a crucial part of the state's climate poliy. Sooner or later, courts will need to decide the extent of California's legal authori...
CONTINUE READINGGood COP, Bad COP in Belém, Brazil
The Drain is a weekly roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.
The United Nations mega-conference focused on climate change known as COP (“Conference of the Parties”) is well underway in Belém, Brazil with 193 countries plus the EU, 57 heads of state, 39 ministers and hundreds of governors, mayors, and local officials participating. Two of my UCLA Law colleagues are on the ground in Belém this week and will be sharing updates. Despite — nay, because of — the Trump administration’s absence, media interest in the clima...
CONTINUE READINGFixing Fix Our Forests
The emergency provisions of Fix Our Forests are a key weakness in the bill
The permitting reform bill that has made the most progress through Congress is the Fix Our Forests Act, which I’ve written about here, here, and here. And as I’ve written before, fixing fire management on federal lands should be a top priority for any reforms. I’m not sure that the model of Fix Our Forests is the best approach to reform – I hope that I’ll have more details on what I think the better approach is soon – but as I’ve said, it’s probably b...
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