When “Stay In Your Lane” Is Wrong
Technical policy questions often involve ethical political questions that the public must have a say in
As vaccination for the coronavirus in the United States ramps up, I want to take a look back to a policy dispute over the initial plans for vaccine distribution at the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021 – in part because that fight (like “follow the science,” which I blogged about recently) also reveals some underlying principles in environmental law specifically, and in the use of law and science more broadly. As the initial vaccine distribution plans were b...
CONTINUE READINGThe Kolbert Report
Elizabeth Kolbert's new book asks what it means to protect nature in the Anthropocene.
Elizabeth Kolbert’s new book, Under a White Sky, opens with the story of the battle to keep invasive Asian carp out of the Great Lakes. The problem exists because of two earlier interventions with nature. A century ago, we reversed the flow of the Chicago river to keep the city’s pollutants out of Lake Michigan by sending them down the Mississippi. Later, Asian carp were brought to the U.S. as a way of controlling aquatic weeds and algae in sanitation treatment p...
CONTINUE READINGDeconstructing the Supreme Court’s First Environmental Law Decision of the Year (Sort Of)…
...And Newly-Arrived Justice Barrett's First Majority Opinion
Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its first environmental law-related decision of its current Term--U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service v. Sierra Club. I say "environmental law-related" because the heart of the case concerns whether certain federal government documents are disclosable to the public under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). But the case arises in the context of the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA), and for that reason it's import...
CONTINUE READINGThe U.S. Government Is Researching Solar Geoengineering. Now What?
Officials should use the tools on hand to get governance right.
In December, Congress renewed funding for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to investigate stratospheric aerosols as a potential method for "solar climate interventions," expanding a research program established a year earlier. These actions have been widely interpreted as the first-ever federal research project into solar geoengineering—proposals to slightly “dim the sun” to limit the harms of climate change. I recently published a ...
CONTINUE READING“NIABYs” Obstruct Important Climate Change Research
Some activists say "not in my backyard," but strident opponents of solar geoengineering argue "not in anyone's backyard."
A peculiar type of activism is manifesting with regard to solar geoengineering. This proposed set of technologies to reduce climate change has been subject to only a few outdoor experiments. One has been in the pipeline for almost a decade: The Stratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiment (SCoPEx) would involve the launch of a balloon into the stratosphere, where it would move horizontally, spray one or more fine mists, and then circle back to measure chemical and ph...
CONTINUE READINGIf Liberals Were the Ones Who Favored Fossil Fuels. . .
Here’s what the conservative response might look like.
Conservatives often come to the defense of fossil fuels and disdain renewable energy. Is that really consistent with their principles? Let’s imagine what conservatives might say if the table were turned, Suppose liberals proposed government support for fossil fuels. The conservative response might look something like this: Another Liberal Boondoggle Now they want to prop up fossil fuels! Sen. Ted Cotton As if our budget deficit wasn’t bad enough under...
CONTINUE READINGKeeping It All In the Ground?
Exploring legal options for congressional and executive actions to terminate existing fossil fuel leases on federal lands.
The Biden Administration has set aggressive goals for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from the United States. And a necessary component for any long-term plan to address greenhouse gas emissions from the United States is reducing and ultimately eliminating the emissions from fossil fuels produced on federal lands. Why is this such a critical issue? Almost half of the coal mined in the United States, about a quarter of the oil, and around one-sixth of the n...
CONTINUE READINGChina’s 14th Five-Year Plan: A Missed Opportunity to Chart a Path to Carbon Neutrality?
Every five years China releases its blueprint for social and economic development and gives the world a preview of what’s to come. This year, on the heels of President Xi Jinping’s commitment to make China carbon neutral by 2060 and with the UN’s Conference of the Parties (COP 26) quickly approaching, expectations were particularly high that China’s 14th Five-Year Plan -- covering 2021-2025 -- would accelerate and detail near-term climate commitments and ...
CONTINUE READINGWhere “Old King Coal” Still Holds Court
Use of coal is dwindling across the country, but very unevenly. We need to give it a good shove.
The NY Times ran a story last week about a coal area in Wyoming that is embracing renewable energy as its economic future. Residents of Carbon County, WY, aren't necessarily happy about it but they recognize that the times are changing. As one county commissioner said, “You can stand at the tracks when the train is coming at you, or you can stand at the switch. I chose to stand at the switch.” I heard Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) talk yesterday, and he's saying ...
CONTINUE READINGPerspectives on Inequality and the Environment
Environmental action has become linked to the fight against inequality. But there are different visions of this linkage.
Equality concerns have loomed large in American thought for at least the past decade, exemplified by demonstrations against “the one percent” and the Black Lives Matter movement. These concerns have also moved toward center stage in environmental law. This has been a major shift in emphasis that seems likely to reshape the meaning of environmentalism. It’s still not clear how to conceptualize this shift. At this point, three perspectives seem to have emerged. ...
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