August 2019 - Legal Planet

Month: August 2019

Anti-Science Climate Denialists Must Be Behind the Methane Rollback

Reducing Methane is a Really Smart Climate Solution With Fast Results

Dan and Ken have offered quick takes on why the latest Trump assault on the environment is inexplicable — as they note, the oil industry doesn’t need or want a rollback of rules that regulate methane emissions, and the compliance costs to industry are tiny. So what is the point of gutting a rule to …

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Helter Skelter

Even for deregulators, the latest rollback makes no sense.

The Washington Post reported this morning that EPA is getting ready to roll back yet another Obama Administration climate regulation — this time, one regulating natural gas leaks. I wanted to add a brief postscript to Ken Alex’s post on this. What struck me most immediately was the sheer economic weirdness of making this rollback …

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Conference on the Ocean’s Role in Sustainable Food Production

U.C. Davis Will Host Cutting-Edge Event on September 16-17, 2019

U.C. Davis’ Coastal and Marine Sciences Institute, in conjunction with the UCD School of Law’s California Environmental Law & Policy Center, will host an important and timely conference on September 16-17, 2019. “The Ocean’s Role in Sustainable Food Production” will offer an in-depth, interdisciplinary look at current scientific, economic, social, legal and governance issues surrounding …

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Methane From Oil and Gas Operations, Update

Another Trump Rollback

A quick and depressing update to my post yesterday about methane emissions from oil and gas operations. According to the NY Times, the Trump administration “will aim to eliminate federal requirements that oil and gas companies install technology to inspect for and fix methane leaks from wells, pipelines and storage facilities.” This, to use a …

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Too Many Climate Solutions

It’s all about implementation

It turns out that there are lots of very promising climate solutions. Drawdown, for example, provides an excellent list. Implementing those solutions – moving them to pilots, policy, and scale – remains very challenging, for a variety of reasons, some legal and regulatory, some political, economic, and technical. I have started Project Climate at the …

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Is the Amazon Burning?

The current panic may not be justified, although long-term worries are

The environmental community is presently up in arms about fires in Brazil’s Amazon. The number of fires have dramatically increased over this time last year. A Greenpeace worker said, “This is not just a forest that is burning. This is almost a cemetery. Because all you can see is death.” France’s president Emmanuel Macron tweeted, …

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Clearing the Air

The DC Circuit upholds a major air regulation.

On Friday, the D.C. Circuit decided Murray Energy v. EPA. The court upheld EPA’s health-based 2015 air quality standards for ozone against challenges from industry (rules too strong) and environmental groups (rules too weak). However, it rejected a grandfather clause that prevented the new standards from applying to plants whose permit applications were in-process when …

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For the Love of Carbon

Understanding Trump’s Drive to Ramp Up Carbon Emissions

Libertarians may oppose government regulation on principle, and to some extent that stance explains the Trump Administration’s environmental and energy policies. But the Trump Administration clearly views the fossil fuel sector as something more than another overly-regulated industry. Instead, expansion of this particular industry is seen as something good in itself. Thus, the Administration not …

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Principles of Climate Governance

We need to address the procedures and structures for climate policymaking.

There’s a lot of discussion about the substance of climate policy today. That’s obviously critical, but we also need to think about the procedural and institutional issues involved in making climate policy. For instance, we need to think about how to divide authority between the states and the federal government. I thought it would be …

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A Letter to My Fellow Boomers About Climate Change

We have met the enemy and he is us.

Polls show that a great many members of our generation oppose taking action against climate change. I want to try to explain to that group why you should rethink your views. Let me start by explaining why climate action would benefit you yourself and then widen the focus to include your grandchildren and their kids. …

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Trump’s Replacement for Project 2025: The “Other” MAGA Plan

It’s not Project 2025, but the “America First Agenda” is worse in some ways.

California Pulls Back On Sustainable Aviation Fuels

Air Resources Board abruptly withdraws proposal to mandate low-carbon jet fuel

The Harris-Trump Debate and Environmental Policy

In the ABC News debate, both candidates were asked directly, “What would you do to fight climate change?” Fracking and energy policy got most of the focus.

The Ins and Outs of Kennedy’s Environmental Positions

His campaign website is a mashup of very different perspectives, from “back to the earth” to tech bro.

Assessing the First Decade of California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act

You’re Invited to “10 Years In: A SGMA Report Card”–A Conference at U.C. Davis Law School on 9/6

Clean Air and the Turbocharged Shadow Docket

Guest Contributors Sean Donahue & Megan Herzog write that coal advocates offer troubling new grounds for the Supreme Court to stay EPA’s carbon pollution standards.

The Tragedy of Indifference

This election will have huge consequences for climate change. Sadly, that doesn’t seem to matter that much at the polls.

The Zombie Myth of Job-Killing Regulations

Some ideas never die, no matter how much evidence piles up against them.

Community Solar: The Systemwide Benefits

The debates over community solar program design are fascinating sites of struggle over which values should drive decision-making.

Community Solar: Local and Individual Benefits

Community solar offers a rich case study for how a diverse range of values can be integrated into the traditionally narrow scope of public utility commission decision-making.

Month: August 2019

Reducing Methane is a Really Smart Climate Solution With Fast Results

Even for deregulators, the latest rollback makes no sense.

U.C. Davis Will Host Cutting-Edge Event on September 16-17, 2019

Another Trump Rollback

It’s all about implementation

The current panic may not be justified, although long-term worries are

The DC Circuit upholds a major air regulation.

Understanding Trump’s Drive to Ramp Up Carbon Emissions

We need to address the procedures and structures for climate policymaking.

We have met the enemy and he is us.

TRENDING

As it turns out, you can hate BOTH government regulation and Trump’s assault on the “deep state.”

A survey of sponsorships across six major league sports leagues in the U.S. reveals more than 60 deals with high-polluting companies.

The Emmett Clean Energy Law & Leadership project will build a bridge between the existing expertise of UCLA’s energy law scholars and policymakers.

China seems to have leap-frogged the U.S. on clean energy. We need to catch up.

The Juliana plaintiffs make a final effort to resurrect their case.

Who will shape federal climate and energy policies? The answer remains too close to call.

Those races get a lot less attention than elections for the Senate, but they’re equally important.

Program Design Elements Can Produce More Equitable, Durable, and Successful Projects

Upcoming U.C. Davis Law Review Symposium To Provide Interdisciplinary Focus On Threatened Western U.S. Lakes

In the ABC News debate, both candidates were asked directly, “What would you do to fight climate change?” Fracking and energy policy got most of the focus.

It’s not Project 2025, but the “America First Agenda” is worse in some ways.

Air Resources Board abruptly withdraws proposal to mandate low-carbon jet fuel

In the ABC News debate, both candidates were asked directly, “What would you do to fight climate change?” Fracking and energy policy got most of the focus.

His campaign website is a mashup of very different perspectives, from “back to the earth” to tech bro.

You’re Invited to “10 Years In: A SGMA Report Card”–A Conference at U.C. Davis Law School on 9/6

Guest Contributors Sean Donahue & Megan Herzog write that coal advocates offer troubling new grounds for the Supreme Court to stay EPA’s carbon pollution standards.

This election will have huge consequences for climate change. Sadly, that doesn’t seem to matter that much at the polls.

Some ideas never die, no matter how much evidence piles up against them.

The debates over community solar program design are fascinating sites of struggle over which values should drive decision-making.

Community solar offers a rich case study for how a diverse range of values can be integrated into the traditionally narrow scope of public utility commission decision-making.