May 2019 - Page 3 of 4 - Legal Planet

Month: May 2019

ARPA-E: Surviving and Thriving Despite Trump

Trump keeps trying to kill it, but the energy innovation hub keeps on going.

In the long run, supporting energy innovation is among the most important things the federal government can do to address climate change. Naturally, Trump wants to end that. In what has become an annual ritual, his most recent budget proposal calls for eliminating the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). The agency’s mission is to support …

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Congestion Pricing in New York City: What Can California Learn?

California isn’t New York. But it should watch the city’s plan closely as it develops.

New York’s state legislature last month enacted legislation to institute the nation’s first congestion pricing plan in New York City. A new commission within the existing Metropolitan Transportation Authority will develop the plan’s structure and details over the next two years, so very few specifics are known at this time. But as cities in California …

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Pouring More Concrete Just Increases Traffic, Part The Millionth

In Other News, Water Is Wet

Department of Duh: Five years ago this month, a northbound carpool lane opened on the 405 freeway, between the 10 and 101 freeways, widening 10 miles of the interstate. It took half a decade to construct and cost more than $1 billion. Since then, average northbound drive times through the Sepulveda Pass have increased at all …

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From Brussels to the Bay: Sustainable Finance in the EU & California

Berkeley Law Conference on Thursday, May 23rd, with State Controller Betty Yee, European Commission Director Mario Nava & CLEE’s Dave Jones

Join Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy and the Environment (CLEE) and the European Union for a roundtable discussion on regulatory developments in sustainable finance and responsible investment. Hear from European Commission Director Mario Nava, of DG FISMA (the European Commission department responsible for EU policy on banking and financial services) on the state of …

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Unanswered Questions About Cost-Benefit Analysis

We have only fragmentary evidnece about how CBA actually functions in government decision-making.

Considering that people have been debating cost-benefit analysis at least since Reagan mandated its use in 1981, you would think we would have the answers to some basic questions about how it works. Yet we have very fragmentary information, generally based on the perspevtives of people at the agencies or in the White House Office …

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HR 9: The First Climate Bill to Pass the House In a Decade

What you need to know about the bill.

Last Thursday, for the first time in a decade, the House of Representatives passed a climate change bill. HR 9, the Climate Action Now Act, passed on a vote of 231-190. The heart of HR 9 is section 3, which blocks the use of any federal funds to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. Section 4 …

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Groundwater Recharge in the SGMA Era

California clarifies beneficial use guidelines for recharge projects addressing SGMA undesirable results

Implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) was always going to be tricky. Part of the necessary growing pains of SGMA is determining how the revolutionary statute interacts with traditional tenets of water law. As with any other sweeping legislative change, SGMA does not provide direct answers for every practical question which arises as …

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International Conference On Electric Vehicles & Urban Residents

Register Today For UC Berkeley Law Event On June 4th & 5th, Co-Organized By University of Paris

Policy makers and industry leaders have a tough challenge making electric vehicles accessible for the world’s urban residents. Many apartment dwellers lack access to dedicated spots with electricity to charge the vehicles, while other city residents may need access to shared EVs to get around city streets. Unless EV leaders can solve these challenges, global …

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Is Socialism Good for the Environment?

The answer is: “Sometimes yes, sometimes not so much.”

Some of the people who are most fervent about the environment these days describe themselves as socialists. But is socialism actually a good thing for the environment? That seems like a significant question in a political context where people on both sides are throwing around the word “socialist” so much, so I decided to see …

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Saved By The…Air Conditioner?

New Paper Proposes Carbon Sequestration From HVAC Systems

You have to like the idea carbon sequestration: if our ability to stop putting carbon into the atmosphere is limited, why not try taking it out? But it always seems to founder on a life-cycle analysis: it costs so much in energy to get the system working that you wind up producing more carbon than you …

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The Supreme Court’s Top-10 Environmental Law Decisions

If these decisions had come out differently, environmental law would look very different than it does today.

Ninth Circuit Short-Circuits Juliana v. U.S. Climate Change Lawsuit

Iconic Children Plaintiffs Lack Legal Standing to Pursue Case, Court of Appeals Rules

30 Major Climate Initiatives Under Biden

By any measure, it has been an eventful four years for climate policy, with billions in spending and many major regulations finalized. Here’s a timeline of the Top 30 actions.

Pouring Gas on a Five Alarm Fire

That’s Trump’s climate policy in a nutshell. His campaign slogan should be, “Burn, Baby, Burn.”

Can GoGreen Advance California’s Home Decarbonization Goals?

The state’s home energy financing program remains modest and needs to scale

Mobilizing Environmental Voters

People who care about the environment may not be voters. Can that be changed?

Little Hoover Commission Releases Flawed CEQA Report

The long-awaited report proposes sweeping exemptions and process changes—even though its own reasoning points in the opposite direction.

California Seeks to Protect Homes from Excessive Indoor Heat

Guest contributor Cassandra Vo writes that the state should do more to protect mobile homes dwellers from heat. Work by a UCLA Law Clinic on behalf of Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability points the way forward on inclusive heat resiliency standards.

Western States Should Opt In to Regionalized Electricity Markets

Guest contributor Kelly Cook writes that regionalization efforts present a low risk that federal control will threaten state authority.

Temporary Takings and the Adaptation Dilemma

Current law penalizes adaptation measures because of the risk of takings liability.

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.

Could Trump Cancel the IRA?

Probably not. But also possibly yes.

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.

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.

Climate Policy and the Audacity of Hope

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

Judicial Deference to Agencies: A Timeline

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

California Seeks to Protect Homes from Excessive Indoor Heat

Guest contributor Cassandra Vo writes that the state should do more to protect mobile homes dwellers from heat. Work by a UCLA Law Clinic on behalf of Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability points the way forward on inclusive heat resiliency standards.

Month: May 2019

Trump keeps trying to kill it, but the energy innovation hub keeps on going.

California isn’t New York. But it should watch the city’s plan closely as it develops.

In Other News, Water Is Wet

Berkeley Law Conference on Thursday, May 23rd, with State Controller Betty Yee, European Commission Director Mario Nava & CLEE’s Dave Jones

We have only fragmentary evidnece about how CBA actually functions in government decision-making.

What you need to know about the bill.

California clarifies beneficial use guidelines for recharge projects addressing SGMA undesirable results

Register Today For UC Berkeley Law Event On June 4th & 5th, Co-Organized By University of Paris

The answer is: “Sometimes yes, sometimes not so much.”

New Paper Proposes Carbon Sequestration From HVAC Systems

TRENDING

If these decisions had come out differently, environmental law would look very different than it does today.

Iconic Children Plaintiffs Lack Legal Standing to Pursue Case, Court of Appeals Rules

By any measure, it has been an eventful four years for climate policy, with billions in spending and many major regulations finalized. Here’s a timeline of the Top 30 actions.

That’s Trump’s climate policy in a nutshell. His campaign slogan should be, “Burn, Baby, Burn.”

The state’s home energy financing program remains modest and needs to scale

People who care about the environment may not be voters. Can that be changed?

The long-awaited report proposes sweeping exemptions and process changes—even though its own reasoning points in the opposite direction.

Guest contributor Cassandra Vo writes that the state should do more to protect mobile homes dwellers from heat. Work by a UCLA Law Clinic on behalf of Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability points the way forward on inclusive heat resiliency standards.

Guest contributor Kelly Cook writes that regionalization efforts present a low risk that federal control will threaten state authority.

Current law penalizes adaptation measures because of the risk of takings liability.

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.

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.

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

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

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

Guest contributor Cassandra Vo writes that the state should do more to protect mobile homes dwellers from heat. Work by a UCLA Law Clinic on behalf of Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability points the way forward on inclusive heat resiliency standards.

The long-awaited report proposes sweeping exemptions and process changes—even though its own reasoning points in the opposite direction.

That’s Trump’s climate policy in a nutshell. His campaign slogan should be, “Burn, Baby, Burn.”