October 2011 - Page 3 of 5

Month: October 2011

When We Found the Right Words

It’s hard to talk about something if you don’t have the right words to designate it easily. So it’s interesting to look for the first appearance for some of the key words in the legal literature. Presumably, this words were in non-legal use a bit earlier, but their first use in law reviews tells us …

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Peet’s Coffee’s Weak Attempts to Rebut Greenwashing Charges

An energetic reader noticed my post last week on Peet’s Coffee’s seeming alliance with the California Chamber of Commerce, the most reactionary anti-environmental force in state politics. He forwarded it to Peet’s PR department and demanded an explanation. Here’s what he got back: We’re disturbed by the blog posting you sent to us which “effectively” …

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Dealing with Escalating Global Resource Demands

Matthew Yglisias has a generally free market orientation and doesn’t usually focus on environmental issues. He recently had a very interesting posting, however, about a problem that U.S. policymakers need to start thinking about: Over time, we’ve seen more and more countries engage in spurts of “catch-up” growth in which they rapidly narrow the gap …

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Two tales of environmental ignorance

Citizens in Tokyo have discovered patches of radiation that are comparable to some of the evacuated areas near Chernobyl, radiation that presumably came from the recent nuclear power plant accident. The EPA has recently reported that the number of waterways in California that exceed water quality standards are 170 percent higher today than in 2006. …

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Cheap Solar Provides Some Reason for Climate Optimism

Solar energy is getting really cheap. And that fact could alter the landscape of energy production and the course of climate change in ways we can only begin to imagine today. One of the conundrums of climate change is trying to predict the future. This difficulty in prediction may be especially true with respect to …

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When Did “GOP” Start to Mean “Grand Old Polluters”?

I’m old enough to remember a time when environmental protection and public health were bipartisan values. Even in the Reagan Administration, there were positive steps such as Reagan’s support for the international ozone treaty. As late as 1990, Republicans in the White House and Congress supported major new air pollution legislation. Even George W. Bush …

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Supporting CleanTech

Good news for the CleanTech sector: One of the world’s most renowned venture capitalists, Vinod Khosla, has raised a $1.05 billion fund, and he’s focusing on clean technology. A co-founder of Sun Microsystems and formerly with venture firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Khosla has created one of the top five largest funds this year, …

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More Oil and Coal, Less Nature and Clean Air

USA Today reports on a speech Perry is set to deliver about energy issues. It’s a humdinger. Here are the main points: •Open federal lands to more energy exploration and production, including ANWAR and lands in the Mountain West – but not the Everglades, a tribute to Florida as a primary state. More offshore drilling …

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Call for Nominations: The Five Best Environmental Presidents

About three months ago, my friend Michael Cohen wrote a piece for the Atlantic arguing who were the five best and worst foreign policy presidents of the last century. It got a good bit of well-deserved play in the blogosphere. So what if we tried to do it for environmental policy? The immediate problem is that environmental …

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The Rebound Effect (2)

The rebound effect is a worry in terms of the possible environmental impact of increased energy efficiency. But how big a worry, and what can be done about it? There is a lot of controversy about this issue, and the evidence seems to be far from crystal clear. For contrasting views, see these NRDC and …

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Judicial Deference to Agencies: A Timeline

Decisions about judicial deference to agencies on legal issues didn’t begin or end with Chevron.

How the ICC is Using International Criminal Law to Prosecute Suspects of Eco Crimes

Guest contributor Aria Burdon Dasbach writes that the International Criminal Court is in the process of weighing dozens of suggestions for how to go after global environmental crimes.

Climate Policy and the Audacity of Hope

The barriers are still huge — but we can also envision a path to success.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Month: October 2011

TRENDING

Decisions about judicial deference to agencies on legal issues didn’t begin or end with Chevron.

Guest contributor Aria Burdon Dasbach writes that the International Criminal Court is in the process of weighing dozens of suggestions for how to go after global environmental crimes.

The barriers are still huge — but we can also envision a path to success.

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.

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

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.

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

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

“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.

Probably not. But also possibly yes.