Month: January 2016

The Future of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant

A group of scientists, philanthropists, and self-identified conservationists weighs in.

The role that nuclear power could or should play in helping to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions is worthy of serious debate, but the latest nuclear-related front-page story in the San Francisco Chronicle is a head-scratcher. Above the fold, the headline reads “Nuclear plant’s surprise backers,” followed by the following subheading: “Environmentalists push for Diablo Canyon …

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EPA Wins the First Round in Clean Power Plan Litigation

…But this is just the beginning—and the Supreme Court will have a say

As we reported last week, on January 21st, a D.C. Circuit panel denied Clean Power Plan opponents’ request for a “stay”—or temporary suspension—of the rule pending judicial review. Read the court order here. We have discussed the Clean Power Plan litigation at length on Legal Planet. As a quick refresher, the Clean Power Plan is …

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Big Win For Clean Technology In The Supreme Court Today

Court validates federal rule to encourage more efficient electricy usage

The future of a clean electricity grid will require more decentralization based on clean technology, like solar and energy storage. Large industrial customers are investing in these technologies and also signing up to moderate their electricity demand in response to larger grid needs (i.e. reducing usage when electricity becomes expensive and dirty to produce). Smaller …

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The Flint Lead Crisis

Three Interesting Notes About Lead Regulation and Exposure

At this point, you would need to be a hermit to have missed the news coverage of elevated levels of lead in the drinking water in Flint, MI. (Although even that might not be a valid excuse given an ancient, anonymous Roman hermit described lead poisoning). The short version is: in April 2014 a cash …

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Legacy Goods and Environment Preservation

The value of some goods like wilderness today depends on their futures.

Normally, economists imagine, equal experiences become less valuable as they recede further into the future.  But some types of goods don’t have that kind of relationship with future experiences.  They can become more valuable as they extend farther into to the future. Take this blog post, for example.  I’m really happy that you’re reading it …

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A Little Quieter, Please

Hollywood Stars Might Not Be the Best Public Critics of the Fossil Fuel Industry

Canada’s new Liberal government can hardly be accused of being soft on climate change: at the recent Paris Summit it endorsed a target of holding global warming to 1.5 Degrees Celsius over historic levels. So when you hear this from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, listen: Most recently in Davos on Wednesday, [Leonardo] DiCaprio used a …

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DC Circuit Denies Stay of Clean Power Plan

  The DC Circuit issued a judgment denying the request for a stay in the case challenging the Clean Power Plan, West Virginia v. EPA. The decision simply states that the petitioners failed to meet the “stringent requirements for a stay pending court review.” The court ordered the parties to submit a proposed briefing schedule by …

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Two Record-Breaking Hot Years in a Row

Recent World Temperatures Provide Strong Evidence of Climate Change

Scientists in the United States, Japan, and Britain have all confirmed that 2015 was the warmest year in average world temperature in the historical record.  This breaks the previous record temperatures of 2014. You wouldn’t really expect a record that has been around for many years to be broken two years in a row, unless something was …

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Questioning the Questioners

Examining the role of moderators in Presidential debates

On Sunday night, the three remaining candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination took the stage in South Carolina for the third Democratic primary debate. I was pleased that one of the video questions of the night asked the candidates for their plan to address climate change. Although the Democratic candidates have discussed climate change policies …

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Goodbye, Wawona?

Trademark Dispute Threatening Iconic Yosemite Names Could All Be A Big Poker Game

It’s great doing environmental law in no small part because it is interdisciplinary: not only do environmental lawyers and scholars have their own field, but they engage with scientists and engineers, as well as specialists in other legal areas (such as constitutional or tort law). Still, I had never seen an environmental trademark controversy. Until now: …

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