Region: California
Another Threat to Advocacy Groups
The new regulation on loan forgiveness bodes no one good.
A new Trump Administration rule restricts what organizations qualify as engaging in public service. Unless an employee qualifies, its employees won’t benefit from student loan forgiveness programs. That would cut into their workforce. On the face, the standard seems reasonable: organizations must “not engage in activities such that they have a substantial illegal purpose.” But when you dig beneath the surface, the whole rule turns out to be legally dubious and ideological to its core.
CONTINUE READINGOf Pistachios and Water Features
What might be included in the SB 131’s CEQA exemption for advanced manufacturing may surprise you
One of the most controversial provisions of SB 131, which created a range of new CEQA exemptions, was an exemption for “a facility for advanced manufacturing, as defined in Section 26003, if the project is located on a site zoned exclusively for industrial uses.” But what on earth might that cover? Is this a broad …
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CONTINUE READINGCalifornia Wonders if it is Doing Wildfire Risk All Wrong
The California Wildfire Fund seeks input from stakeholders on a range of possible reforms.
Senate Bill 254 (Becker) deservedly received a lot of attention when the Governor signed it into law earlier this year. After many twists and turns and late night speculation of will they/won’t they, SB 254 became a landing pad for a sweeping set of wildfire and electric utility policy adjustments. Among the headlines: Creation of …
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CONTINUE READINGA Strangely Important Case about… Boilers?
UCLA Law’s clinic files Ninth Circuit brief in defense of core air pollution control authority.
When I think about sources responsible for LA’s air pollution, I don’t first think about water heaters, boilers, and other medium-scale appliances. But it turns out that appliances that burn natural gas to heat water are, in aggregate, an incredibly significant source of nitrogen oxides (NOx), an air pollutant that worsens smog and causes serious …
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CONTINUE READINGWhat Went Wrong with News Coverage of the LA Fires
The Drain is a weekly roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.
When disaster strikes your town, you rely on journalists to help explain what happened and why. Last January, many of us in Los Angeles turned to The LA Times as unusual firestorms kicked up and ultimately destroyed parts of Altadena and Pacific Palisades. The LAT’s journalists and photojournalists did incredible coverage from lots of angles, …
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CONTINUE READING3 Lessons for a Regional Western Electricity Market
California is paving the way for the creation of an independent regional organization to oversee Western energy markets. It can learn from mistakes made in other regions.
In case you missed it among all the other news, the California legislature passed AB 825 in September (and Gov. Gavin Newsom signed it as part of the big energy package), paving the way for the creation of an independent regional organization to oversee Western energy markets. This presents a whole set of interesting challenges …
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CONTINUE READINGManila Protests Over Environment Follow a Rich Tradition
Happy Filipino American History Month. Here’s a look at Filipino-led protests for environmental justice.
The Philippines made international news last month when several tens of thousands of protestors took over the streets of Manila to express their outrage over the government’s embezzlement of over a trillion Philippine pesos (approximately $17.6 billion USD) designated for flood control projects. Losing this amount of climate-designated funds to corruption would be problematic anywhere …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Legal Barricades Protecting State Climate Policy
The general legal landscape favors state regulatory efforts.
The upshot is that it will be very challenging for the Feds to overturn state emissions regulations of power plants and other facilities. The statutory and doctrinal landscape are favorable for states playing defense, and the Supreme Court seems if anything more favorable to the states than the national government. Of course, these general observations leave plenty of room for litigation over the fine points, and the Feds could win some cases. But the states start the contest with an advantage.
CONTINUE READINGOur National Parks are Open — and Openly Threatened
The Drain is a weekly roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.
“I’m still here working.” That’s what a park ranger at Yosemite National Park told me last Friday, as he made his rounds. Anyone who thinks they can flagrantly break the park rules during the government shutdown is in for “a rude awakening,” he said. Literally. He and other rangers have been using noise to wake …
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CONTINUE READINGLighting Candles in Dark Times: Environmental Law Centers in the Trump Era
These law school centers show it’s possible find ways to make a difference.
Environmental law have become vibrant parts of the law and policy ecosystem. At a time when despondency seems all too common, the work of these law school centers offers beacons of hope for the future of environmental protection. Some of that work is playing defense — pushing back against deregulatory efforts — while other work plays offense by identifying innovative directions for environmental policy. A comprehensive survey isn’t practical, but I’ll provide examples from several different centers.
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