September 2009 - Page 3 of 6

Month: September 2009

For Renewable Energy in California, It’s Not Clear Which Way the Wind is Blowing

If California’s governor sticks to the plan he announced last week, California’s leadership role in promoting domestic renewable energy development is in doubt. As Cara Horowitz reported in a recent post, the governor announced his intention to veto recently-passed legislation that would have set a target of 33% renewable power by 2020. Instead of signing …

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David Nawi Appointed to High-Ranking USDOI Post

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar has named a respected California environmental lawyer to serve in a key, newly-created Department of Interior post. Salazar appointed David Nawi as his Senior Advisor to the Secretary for California and Nevada. In his announcement selecting Nawi, Secretary Salazar stated, “The current water crisis and land management challenges …

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Eid Mubarak: Islam and the Environment

This evening, Muslims around the world are celebrating the end of Ramadan. All the talk of political Islam has overlooked the question of what, if anything, Islam says about the environment, and a short blog post can hardly be comprehensive. My initial reading of the Qu’ran reveals something that should be unremarkable to those who have …

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Climate Lesson #1: It’s a Small World After All

This is the first in a short series of homilies on the lessons we can learn from climate change. Thirty years ago, in the early days of environmental law, it seemed that most environmental problems were local. Pollution came from cities and bedeviled the residents of those same cities. Wilderness areas suffered from human incursions, …

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Meg Whitman Would Suspend AB 32

In a rather stunning and little-noticed op ed last week, California GOP gubernetorial candidate Meg Whitman — former CEO of EBay – called on Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to suspend the implementation of AB 32. Her rationale? To create jobs in California. AB 32, also known as the Global Warming Solutions Act, cuts California’s greenhouse gas emissions …

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A third is a third is a third?

On the last day of its term, the California legislature did wind up passing SB 14, the hotly debated bill to boost the state’s renewable energy supply requirement to 33% by 2020. But its prospects don’t look good — the Governor announced within hours that he would veto (SacBee story here). Presumably in its stead, …

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Old MacDonald Had a Farm . . .

But unfortunately, the farm wasn’t as bucolic as you might imagine, as the NY Times reports: Agricultural runoff is the single largest source of water pollution in the nation’s rivers and streams, according to the E.P.A. An estimated 19.5 million Americans fall ill each year from waterborne parasites, viruses or bacteria, including those stemming from …

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The new and improved EPA

Since I’ve suggested elsewhere on this blog that EPA might not yet have achieved full vertebrate status with respect to mountaintop removal mining, I should acknowledge some of the positive steps the agency has taken recently. Three examples: EPA and the Department of Transportation jointly proposed new fuel efficiency/greenhouse gas emission standards for cars and …

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EPA (indirectly) wins a turf war

Think the executive branch is one big happy family under the benevolent direction of (any) president? Think again. Power struggles over turf and substantive outcomes are frequent, and success in those struggles depends on a lot more than just who has the ear of the president at the moment. Sometimes it takes litigation, which has …

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It’s Déjà Vu All Over Again

Since opponents can’t seem to come up with any new arguments against climate change legislation, they seem determined to recycle the old, discredited ones. Here’s today’s example, straight from the GOP press release: Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., and Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif, today urged the Environmental Protection Agency to include several relevant studies in its …

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LGBTQ People Face Greater Climate Risks

A new study by the UCLA Williams Institute finds that LGBTQ people in same-sex couples are at greater risk of exposure to the harms of climate change compared to straight couples.

Why the New Climate Reg for Coal is a Perfectly Normal EPA Rule

EPA’s approach isn’t a novel innovation. It’s just EPA applying its usual approach.

EPA’s New Power Plant Rules Have Dropped. What Happens Next?

Media battles. Lawsuits. Stay requests. And political mayhem.

We Need a True Debate Over Income-Graduated Fixed Charges

A state bill to cap the fixed charges utilities can collect in California would shut down an important debate about equity and rate design. Here’s a better way forward.

Could Trump Cancel the IRA?

Probably not. But also possibly yes.

Climate Action for Earth Day

“We have a long way to go, but we’ve started down the path.” I asked my UCLA Emmett Institute colleagues what climate actions give them hope on Earth Day. Here’s how they answered.

A New Era for Protecting Public Lands

The Bureau of Land Management has always prioritized extraction activities. Now the agency has announced a rule that could elevate conservation.

Don’t Count Your Judicial Vultures Before They Hatch

The conservative Supreme Court majority may turn out as bad as we fear. Or maybe not.

Filling in the Picture: The Latest From Kennedy about Climate

Here’s what Kennedy says about his campaign, its effect on the race, and climate change.

Five Myths and Half-Truths About California Cap and Trade

California has spent years fine-tuning its trading system, with results that aren’t always easy to gauge.

California Wins Major Clean Air Act/Climate Change Case in D.C. Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals Rejects Red States’ Challenge to California’s CAA “Waiver Authority”

U.S. Supreme Court Revisits, Tightens Regulatory Takings Limits on Land Use Regulation

California Homeowner’s Takings Challenge to County’s Traffic Impact Fee Heads Back to State Court

Election 2024: The Current Outlook

The White House and the House are still up for grabs; Republicans are favored in the Senate.

A Word on Congestion Pricing

Time for local leaders to restart the discussion

The ‘Year of Climate’ in International Courts

Guest contributor Rebecca Hamilton previews several opinions that touch on the question of the international legal obligations of States in light of the climate emergency.

Ranking the Candidates’ Focus on Energy & Climate

Some campaign websites mention these issues only in passing. Others went into more detail.

No, EVs are Not Worse for the Planet

There’s an electric car culture war raging. It doesn’t hurt to say obvious things, like that electric cars reduce driving costs and pollute far less than gas-powered cars.

A Total Eclipse of the Heat

The eclipse mania gripping U.S. media and the entire nation is an opportunity to gaze in awe at the climate crisis we’ve unleashed and talk about our collective response.

Power of the People: Environmental Advocacy in China

Several of China’s most prominent environmental advocates will join a keynote talk at UCLA Law on the role of civil society in addressing China’s global environmental impacts.

Month: September 2009

TRENDING

A new study by the UCLA Williams Institute finds that LGBTQ people in same-sex couples are at greater risk of exposure to the harms of climate change compared to straight couples.

EPA’s approach isn’t a novel innovation. It’s just EPA applying its usual approach.

Media battles. Lawsuits. Stay requests. And political mayhem.

A state bill to cap the fixed charges utilities can collect in California would shut down an important debate about equity and rate design. Here’s a better way forward.

Probably not. But also possibly yes.

“We have a long way to go, but we’ve started down the path.” I asked my UCLA Emmett Institute colleagues what climate actions give them hope on Earth Day. Here’s how they answered.

The Bureau of Land Management has always prioritized extraction activities. Now the agency has announced a rule that could elevate conservation.

The conservative Supreme Court majority may turn out as bad as we fear. Or maybe not.

Here’s what Kennedy says about his campaign, its effect on the race, and climate change.

California has spent years fine-tuning its trading system, with results that aren’t always easy to gauge.

U.S. Court of Appeals Rejects Red States’ Challenge to California’s CAA “Waiver Authority”

California Homeowner’s Takings Challenge to County’s Traffic Impact Fee Heads Back to State Court

The White House and the House are still up for grabs; Republicans are favored in the Senate.

Time for local leaders to restart the discussion

Guest contributor Rebecca Hamilton previews several opinions that touch on the question of the international legal obligations of States in light of the climate emergency.

Some campaign websites mention these issues only in passing. Others went into more detail.

There’s an electric car culture war raging. It doesn’t hurt to say obvious things, like that electric cars reduce driving costs and pollute far less than gas-powered cars.

The eclipse mania gripping U.S. media and the entire nation is an opportunity to gaze in awe at the climate crisis we’ve unleashed and talk about our collective response.

Several of China’s most prominent environmental advocates will join a keynote talk at UCLA Law on the role of civil society in addressing China’s global environmental impacts.

Here’s what Kennedy says about his campaign, its effect on the race, and climate change.