When is a Flood a Government Taking?
Should the feds be liable for flooding during Hurricane Harvey?
A federal statute bars nearly all claims against the federal government for flooding. Victims of flooding from Hurricane Harvey seem to have found a loophole by claiming that their property was taken without just compensation by flooding. The facts are unusual, but the case raises some deep questions about financial responsibility for flood control. Here the facts. In the 1920s and ‘30s, major downpours in Texas revealed that Houston might face catastrophic ri...
CONTINUE READINGWhither Climate Ambition
China can lead the way in 2020, but will it?
China, the world’s largest carbon emitter, has the opportunity to enhance global ambition on climate change action this coming year in the run-up to COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland. The question is whether it will do so. I attended COP25 in Madrid this month with colleagues and students on behalf of UCLA’s Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment. This year’s meeting was largely seen as a failure; a missed opportunity for the countries of the worl...
CONTINUE READINGLight Over Darkness
New L.A. street lighting design competition spotlights barrier to walking, cycling, and public transit use
A design competition to improve street lighting launched by Mayor Eric Garcetti last week could help Los Angeles meet its climate targets by improving the experience of pedestrians, cyclists, and public transit users on city streets. The competition invites students and design professionals to submit ideas for a new standard L.A. streetlight design, with a winner to be announced in June 2020. Angelenos’ commitment to cars is one of the city’s most stubborn cha...
CONTINUE READINGCharting the Progress of the Latest Chapter in American Climate Change Litigation
State and Local Governments' Common Law-Based Lawsuits Against the Energy Industry Are Steadily Gaining Traction
The latest chapter in American climate change litigation has been launched by local governments--and one state--across the U.S. against domestic and international fossil fuel companies. These lawsuits have been brought under one of the oldest and most venerable legal doctrines--state common law. They seek compensation from the energy industry for the myriad, adverse effects of climate change on those governments and their residents. And this litigation is--slow...
CONTINUE READINGAn Oil and Gas Setback in Los Angeles Would Not Create Billions in Liability
A recent report from the Petroleum Administrator relied on incorrect and incomplete legal assumptions about the City's potential liability to oil and gas operators. Here's why it matters.
This week, Sean Hecht and I (in our capacity as attorneys in the Frank G. Wells Environmental Law Clinic at UCLA School of Law) sent a letter on behalf of the Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust to Mayor Eric Garcetti, the Los Angeles City Attorney's office, and the Los Angeles City Council. (Our letter built off of a similar one sent by attorneys with the NRDC, Communities for a Better Environment, and the Center for Biological Diversity, which we attached to our letter...
CONTINUE READINGNetherlands’ Supreme Court Demands More Emissions Cuts
However, today's ruling will likely have little direct impact
Today the Netherlands' supreme court sided with an environmental organization and ruled that the Dutch government has an obligation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions more aggressively. This is being widely praised by environmentalists and others concerned about climate change. However, this historic ruling will likely have little impact on actual emissions, at least directly. At the same time, its legal logic might have long term consequences across Europe. As ...
CONTINUE READINGPost-Madrid, China And California Have An Opportunity To Lead
As international climate action falters, the two climate leaders can fill the void
Note: this post is co-authored with Fan Dai, director of the University of California’s California-China Climate Institute. With the high-profile failure of last week’s UN climate conference in Madrid, the focus of international action on climate change will need to shift to political leaders of key global economies. We attended the conference in Madrid on behalf of the UC California-China Climate Institute and the Center for Law, Energy and the Environment (C...
CONTINUE READINGGuest Blogger Divya Rao: Confronting Reality: A Lack of Accountability at COP25
The Support of Toyota and Other Manufacturers for the Trump Administration's Policy Rollbacks Shows the Need to Confront Corporate Decisionmaking on Energy and Climate
As Cara Horowitz and Idalmis Vaquero discussed in their blog posts, the true highlight of COP 25 has been the numerous youth and indigenous interventions, actions, and disruptions. After spending four days at the COP, I came away from the events surprised by the level of corporate visibility and greenwashing in the side events, but also impressed by the activists asking corporate panelists sharp and insightful questions to try and hold them accountable. At one poi...
CONTINUE READINGThe Decade in Review
Like many humans, the Twenty-First Century’s teenage years were stormy.
“It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.” That pretty much sums up the ten years from January 2010 to January 2020. As the decade began, Barrack Obama was in the White House and the Democrats controlled Congress but were one vote short of a filibuster-proof majority in the House. Under Nancy Pelosi’s leadership, the Waxman-Markey bill had passed the House, but it never made it to a vote in the Senate. When the Democratic majority in the House ...
CONTINUE READINGCOP-Out 25: Why Madrid’s Failure May Not Really Matter
Carbon markets are unlikely to be central to global decarbonization efforts
The 25th United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP) in Madrid ended largely in failure on Sunday, with the parties unable to come to agreement on provisions governing a potential international carbon market. How big a deal is that failure? Like my UCLA Law colleagues, I attended the conference in Madrid and witnessed similar dynamics that they described. I’ve been a skeptic of these UN processes since as long as I’ve worked in the climate field. On one hand, the...
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