Nature As A Carbon Sequestration Solution
New CLEE/Emmett Institute report analyzes policy solutions to accelerate investment
New UC Berkeley/UCLA Law report discusses policy solutions to accelerate investment in nature-based climate solutions in California. Register for a free webinar on Wednesday, June 16 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM Pacific Time with an expert panel to learn about the top findings. This post is co-authored by Katie Segal and Ted Lamm. Some of the most promising, cost-effective climate change solutions are in our own backyards. Trees, plants, soils, and ecosystems like ...
CONTINUE READINGWar and the Environment
War brings devastation to people's lives. And to the planet itself.
This post was delayed due to a technical problem at Legal Planet, but it was originally scheduled for Memorial Day -- an apt date to think about how wars, along with their other tragic costs, impact the environment. We are now in the process of ending our "Forever War" in Afghanistan. The country has been at war at least since the Soviet invasion decades ago. The impact on the environment has been stark. As the Guardian wrote a few years ago, "The past 30 years of ...
CONTINUE READINGHow Harmful Was Trump’s COVID Response?
We know it was bad, but how much of the U.S. death rate can be attributed to him rather than circumstances?
The U.S. COVID response went badly in 2020. How much was because Trump was Trump? That is, if Trump had been a moderately competent but imperfect leader, facing a diverse population with a significant resistance to public health measures, how many lives would have been saved? That’s not a question that anyone can answer with any certainty. I’ve done some musing about it, though, and I think we might possibly be able to get at least a very rough sense of the differe...
CONTINUE READINGHow Biden’s Climate-Related Financial Risk Order Relates to State Policy
The federal government takes a big step, but state leaders still have a role to play
On Thursday the White House issued an Executive Order on Climate-Related Financial Risk that outlines a key plank in the Biden Administration’s whole-of-government approach to addressing climate change. Whereas the Trump Administration sought to actively block consideration of environmental factors in investment decision-making, the Biden Administration is directing financial and climate regulators to develop strategies to address the physical and transition risks that...
CONTINUE READINGGetting the Lead Out
The Ninth Circuit tells EPA to determine safe levels for lead based solely on science.
Lead can cause neurological damage to young children and developing fetuses. The only really safe level is zero. Because poor children are the most likely to be exposed to this hazard, this is also a major environmental justice issue. The Trump EPA took the position that it could set a hazard level higher than zero because of the cost of reaching a lower threshold. In a split decision, the Ninth Circuit reversed. The statutory issues are complicated, and the dissent m...
CONTINUE READINGCost-Benefit Analysis and the Biden EPA
The recent rescission of a Trump rule hints at how the Biden Administration views the role of cost-benefit analysis.
In its closing days, the Trump Administration issued a rule designed to tilt EPA’s cost-benefit analysis of air pollution regulations in favor of industry. Last week, EPA rescinded the rule. The rescission was no surprise, given that the criticisms of the Trump rule by economists as well as environmentalists. EPA’s explanation for the rescission was illuminating, however. It sheds some important light on how EPA views the role of cost-benefit analysis in its decisi...
CONTINUE READINGGuest Contributor Jetta Cook: Greater Than the Sum: Sub-national Renewable Energy Policy during the Trump Administration
Even Red-States Supported and Increased Renewable Energy during the Trump Administration
Below the federal level, it’s difficult to discern the impact that the Trump Administration had on energy policy. To take a closer look, I conducted a fifty-state survey to discern how state, local, and public utility actions affecting energy policy came together as a whole over the past four years. Across the nation, I found, policymakers continued to shape the energy policy of the United States without much regard to national policy. These actors varied in size a...
CONTINUE READINGThe Supreme Court’s (Non-)Decision in Major Climate Change Case
BP P.L.C. v. Baltimore Ruling a Technical Win for Energy Defendants--But There's Less There Than Meets the Eye
Today the U.S. Supreme Court issued its first major environmental decision of the Court's current Term--and in a climate change case, no less: BP P.L.C v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore. Superficially, the multinational energy corporations sued by the City of Baltimore prevailed, in a 7-1 majority opinion authored by Justice Neil Gorsuch. But upon closer inspection, the justices issued a narrow, procedural ruling that, in Solomonic fashion, rejects the argument...
CONTINUE READINGTaxing Carbon?
Should we adopt a corporate carbon tax? Something to think about on Tax Day.
Today is Tax Day, delayed from its usual spot in mid-April due a backlog at the IRS. It seems like an apt time to think about a carbon tax. At present, it doesn't seem to be on Biden's agenda, but agendas can change with circumstances, sometimes unpredictably. Politically, the biggest problem with a carbon tax always been that it's . . . a tax. Democrats are planning to raise some taxes anyway, however, so this might be less of a consideration. A...
CONTINUE READINGMaking Corporate Commitments Credible
How can we make climate pledges something more than cheap talk?
Companies across many different economic sectors have announced ambitious goals like being climate neutral by 2050. Commitments on ESG - Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance — are a growing corporate emphasis. Talk is cheap, however. How can we know they’re serious? How can we even be sure that the information they release about their environmental performance is true? There are not easy questions, but there are steps that companies could take if they ...
CONTINUE READINGJoin Our Mailing List
Climate policy is changing rapidly. Stay in the loop with expert analysis via email Monday - Friday.
