Region: National

Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Wins Big in Ninth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals Rejects Challenge to TRPA’s Regional Plan

This week the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) won a major legal victory in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.  A unanimous three-judge panel of that court rejected environmentalists’ challenge to TRPA’s adopted Regional Plan for the Lake Tahoe Basin in Sierra Club v. Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.   The Ninth Circuit decision effectively …

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Still Undecided? Here’s What You Need to Know

Trump says climate change is a hoax & favors more coal and oil. Clinton wants climate action.

The positions of the two candidates on climate change are polar opposites. Trump wants to undo all of Obama’s effort to fight climate change and increase renewable energy.  He views climate change as a hoax. In fact, just this past Tuesday, he vowed to abolish all U.S. climate programs. Clinton views climate change as a …

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UC Berkeley & UCLA Law Launch New Climate Policy Website

Register for a webinar on the new site’s features on Wednesday at 2pm, with a keynote by Mary Nichols

To meet the challenge of climate change, California and other governments will need to adopt a suite of policies affecting multiple sectors. Reducing economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions will take reforms in energy, land use, transportation, and agriculture, to name just a few. Since 2009, UC Berkeley and UCLA Schools of Law, with the generous support …

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Let’s Get America Moving Again

Make infrastructure a top priority for the new Congress

There’s actually one policy that Clinton and Trump agree on: the need for a massive investment in infrastructure. However the election comes out, that should be a top legislative priority, combining economic, safety, and environmental benefits – and political benefits for the next President because of its popularity. It would help get the country moving …

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Battle for the Governor’s Mansion in the Granite State

Determining the Future of State Environmental Policy

Governors’ races don’t get as much publicity as the national contests. But we live in a federalist system, and states help shape environmental and energy policy. They can cooperate with and even go beyond federal policy, or they can drag their feet and litigate every federal initiative. This time around, there are three races that …

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Obama’s Remarkable Environmental Achievements

When you look at the whole of his legacy, it’s a stunning record.

When he leaves office in January, President Obama will have compiled a remarkable record of environmental achievements. The record spans everything from climate change to endangered species and ocean protection. We can only hope that next Tuesday’s election doesn’t undo many of these gains. Here is a list, in no particular order, of twenty of …

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Battle for the Governorship: North Carolina

A tight race between a deregulatory incumbent and a pro-environmental challenger.

Governors’ races don’t get as much publicity as the national contests. But we live in a federalist system, and states help shape environmental and energy policy. They can cooperate with and even go beyond federal policy, or they can drag their feet and litigate against every federal initiative. This time around, there are three races that are …

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The Environment and the Conservative Dilemma

Trump may shake up GOP’s anti-environmental coalition.

However this election comes out, conservatives face a major problem. As the ascendancy of Donald Trump shows, a substantial share of the GOP base – probably a majority — doesn’t care much about core conservative principles. Notably, Trump’s strongest allies, Rudy Giuliani and Chris Christie, do not have histories as staunch conservatives. This situation leaves …

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A Century of Bipartisan Effort

Over 110 years, Presidents of both parties have worked to save national monuments.

Let’s take a break from the bitter partisan warfare and celebrate a bipartisan triumph: preserving numerous national monuments by presidents of both parties. This effort includes creation of 1.6 million square miles of marine preserves by Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. It’s impressive just how many of our Presidents have been involved in …

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The Steadily-Dying Sierra Nevadas

Drought, Bark Beetle Infestation, Climate Change Imperil Sierra Pine Forests

Like over 600 other environmental lawyers, professors, law students and regulators, I attended the 25th annual Environmental Law Conference at Yosemite last weekend.  As always, the Conference–sponsored by the California State Bar’s Environmental Law Section–was a big success, filled with inspirational speakers and thought-provoking panels. But the major topic of conversation–during the Conference proceedings, in …

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