Trump’s Biggest Anti-Environmental Fail
He did his best to destroy EPA completely. But his devastating budget proposals got nowhere.
Trump was awful for the environment. But he wanted to be even worse. If Trump had had his way, only shreds of key environmental agencies would now be left. Although Trump has certainly succeeded in weakening them, the cores of the agencies remain intact. Without them, Biden's task would be much harder. Trump's budgets unvaryingly called for eviscerating or even zeroing-out environment-related agencies. In 2017, with his first budget proposal, everyone panicked at th...
CONTINUE READINGThe IPCC Misses the Mark on Solar Geoengineering
The Intergovernmental Panel Climate Change poorly portrays the "institutional and social constraints to deployment related to governance"
Not long ago, I re-read the top-level messages from the Intergovernmental Panel Climate Change (IPCC) on solar geoengineering's governance issues. The Summary for Policymakers of most recent broad report, Global Warming of 1.5°C (SR1.5), says, in full: Solar radiation modification (SRM) [i.e. solar geoengineering] measures are not included in any of the available assessed pathways. Although some SRM measures may be theoretically effective in reducing an oversho...
CONTINUE READINGThree key environmental priorities for the Biden administration
Spoiler alert: the most important first steps are not directly environmental
Like many others, I breathed an enormous sigh of relief when the presidential race was called for Joe Biden. Like many others, I will not entirely relax until Biden is actually sworn in. The failure of our current norm-breaking President (and his enablers) to accept the election results is both frustrating and frightening. It also helps explain why the most important early steps the Biden administration can take to protect the environment and restore environmental law ar...
CONTINUE READINGSome of the Things Federal Agencies Can Do to Address Climate Change
Current federal law provides many ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, even without a friendly senate
As the likelihood grows that the United States will have a new president who will preside over a divided government, and various policy think tanks line up to offer suggestions for effective action on various important issues, it seems like the right time to shine a light once again on a series of reports issued by Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy and the Environment (CLEE) in 2014. The three-volume series is entitled “Addressing Climate Change Without Legisl...
CONTINUE READINGPresident Biden & Climate Change: What’s Achievable?
Divided federal government might still allow possibility for meaningful action
With a victory in the presidential election, Joe Biden now faces a U.S. Senate that still hangs in the balance. But even with a Democratic runoff sweep in Georgia next month, it will be very divided. So what will be possible for a President Biden and his administration to achieve on climate change? Agency action, foreign policy changes, and spending can all make a difference on emissions, with any COVID stimulus and budget deals with Congress, if feasible, providing p...
CONTINUE READINGThe Georgia Runoffs and the Environment
Control of the Senate is at stake. So is Joe Biden's legislative agenda.
Georgia has two Senate contests due to a fluke of timing — one a regular election, the other a special election. Both elections have gone into runoffs. The outcomes will have major implications for the environment because control of the Senate is at stake. The regular election pits David Perdue (R) against Jonathan Ossoff (D). The special election pits Kelley Loeffler (R) against Rev. Raphael Warnock, the African-American pastor of the historic Ebenezer Baptist ...
CONTINUE READINGThe Changing Landscape of Climate Policy
Even under Trump, the U.S. was slowly lurching in the right direction. Biden needs to give the process a good strong push.
Barring a Democratic sweep in the Georgia runoffs, Biden will be facing a Republican Senate. But he also has a big advantage: The world has changed in some important ways that favor climate action. The importance of these positive changes may have been obscured by some negative developments. Since Barack Obama left office, climate change has become even more urgent, and Trump’s presidency has proved a disaster for environmental policy. His Supreme Court appointm...
CONTINUE READINGClimate Candidates Notch Victories in Major City Council Races Across Western U.S.
Voters choose new candidates with strong climate platforms in Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Diego, and other large cities across the West
While ballot counting continues across the country, city council races are now being called, with new climate champions set to take office in large Western U.S. cities that held elections this week. Many of the victors are taking on their first elected positions. Candidates with inspiring and ambitious climate platforms notched victories in six large Western U.S. cities: Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, and Portland. Other large cities by popu...
CONTINUE READINGWhat Next for Climate Policy?
The election outcome is still contested. Here are three possible scenarios.
We probably won’t be sure for a while who will be our next President. The GOP will probably control the Senate but even that isn’t completely certain yet. Rather than play forecaster, I thought it would be helpful to look at how various outcomes will impact climate policy. Since we’re all suffering a lot of angst right now, I wanted to start with a few positive things -- things that won’t change regardless of the election outcome. The first involves the ...
CONTINUE READINGThe Races to Watch
These are the down-ticket races most likely to impact environmental policy.
The presidency is by far the most important office on the line, but there are a host of down-ticket rates that will shape energy and environmental policy over the next few years. I’ve included links to previous posts that discuss the environmental views of the candidates in more detail. The Senate Control of the Senate will be crucial to the next President. Democrats seem to have their best shot at flipping Arizona, Colorado, and Maine. Given that Republicans a...
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