Is China a Climate Hero? It’s complicated
UCLA's Alex Wang explains China's climate strategies and contradictions in his new book, Chinese Global Environmentalism.
Though China was once viewed as a climate villain, the country now dominates the global supply chains of solar panels, batteries, and electric vehicles. Just this month, Chinese manufacturer BYD overtook Tesla as the world’s biggest maker of EVs. It’s the latest example of how China’s focus on clean technology is setting the pace for the rest of the world as the Trump administration hits the brakes. This reversal may seem relatively new, but it is actually t...
CONTINUE READINGThe Affirmative Case for Finding Endangerment
Despite hairsplitting by the current EPA, finding endangerment is a no-brainer.
The repeal of the Endangered Finding is shocking mostly because it’s so blatantly wrong. For EPA to decide that vehicle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions aren't harmful is like NASA deciding the earth isn’t round after all. Let’s not get mired in the legal weeds. It’s crazy that this issue is even being raised. In 2007, the Supreme Court told EPA to do two things: (1) consider whether GHGs endanger human health and welfare, and (2) if the answer is yes, regulat...
CONTINUE READINGIn the Cross Hairs
The Right has taken umbrage at some of the important work of environmental law professors and centers.
I’ve posted before about the importance of the work on climate issues coming out of law schools, often from environmental law centers. The fossil fuel industry and its conservative allies seem to have woken up to this fact. Their response is to try to repress this valuable work. This is a backhanded acknowledgement that law schools are making a difference. This campaign has targeted some of the law schools with the most prominent environmental law programs. The ...
CONTINUE READINGHow to Create Permit Certainty?
What might be a good path forward for the FREEDOM Act?
This is the third post in a series looking at the most recent proposed legislation for permit certainty, the FREEDOM Act. Part one, discussing why Congress is considering permit certainty and its importance, is here. Part two, analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the bill, is here. The good parts of the bill – making judicial review speedier, setting timeframes for permit decisions that are enforceable by courts – are a step forward. The permit revocati...
CONTINUE READINGAnalyzing the FREEDOM Act
Permit certainty bill has beneficial judicial review provisions, but problematic provisions for damages and compensation.
This is the second post in a series on the FREEDOM Act, a bill in the House of Representatives to address the issue of permit certainty. Part one, explaining why permit certainty is now a hot topic in Congress, is here. All of the reforms in the FREEDOM Act turn on the creation of a timing structure, under which an applicant gets a determination by the agency that their application is complete, which in turn starts a clock that runs for the agency to make a decisi...
CONTINUE READINGThe FREEDOM Act and Permit Certainty
Permit certainty bill has potential, but also some problems that could make it unworkable
As one advocate for permitting reform aptly noted, “permit certainty” is now a prerequisite for any action on permitting reform in this Congress. That’s because the Trump Administration’s war on renewable energy means that Democrats have no desire to do a deal that would not, in practice, make a difference for investment in new clean energy sources, whether on federal land or private land. Permit certainty refers to a range of possible concepts, from ensurin...
CONTINUE READINGWhat does UUD mean?
A key legal standard in public lands law is being used by the Trump Administration to stop renewable energy, but in the long run the Administration’s position may advance environmentalists objectives.
Last August, the Secretary of the Interior issued an order that required considering the “capacity density” of an energy source in issuing permits for that energy source on federal land. The order was a blatant effort to stop renewables permitting on federal lands, because the “capacity density” measure the agency used simply looks at the area of land the energy production source requires versus the amount of energy the source produces – and a single coal-fir...
CONTINUE READINGEnvironmental Journalism in the Age of Idiocracy
Jeff Bezos' murder of the Washington Post is a major hit, but there are hundreds of great environmental reporters out there in new media who deserve our support -- and subscriptions.
By now we have all heard and read about Jeff Bezos’ decision to destroy The Washington Post. Make no mistake: that is what he decided: hundreds of reporters have gotten fired, including several foreign correspondents in dangerous areas with no means of support and no ability to get home. And spare me any questions concerning “what was he supposed to do with a paper that was losing money?” Bezos spent $500 million on a yacht. He spent $50 million on his own wedding....
CONTINUE READINGThe details of SEQRA reform
Looking at the specifics of how New York’s SEQRA reform efforts would work
I recently posted about proposed legislation in New York, advanced by the governor, to reform the state’s environmental review law (the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA)) to facilitate infill housing – an approach similar to what California did last year. There’s now legislative text (available here) available to allow a close review of what the proposal would do. The key provisions of the legislative text create new exemptions from SEQRA for: ...
CONTINUE READINGHot Take on the Endangerment Repeal
It's a tweaked version of arguments that the Supreme Court rejected in 2007.
The other shoe has dropped with the announcement of the final rule repealing EPA’s 2009 finding that greenhouse gases endanger human health and welfare. The Trump Administration has the nasty habit of announcing new regulations before posting them. That means that for the moment we are limited to the EPA press release. Although I’ll post again when more details are available, the main outlines of EPA’s rationale are already clear. In this post, I’ll analyze so...
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