Conference On SB 100 & California’s Race To A Carbon-Free Grid
California Lawyers Association Environmental Law Section will hold daylong event on March 28th in Downtown Oakland
The California Lawyers Association's Environmental Law Section is hosting a conference on Thursday, March 28th in Downtown Oakland entitled “SB 100 and the Race to a Carbon Free Grid in California.” It will feature top officials from the Newsom Administration and other energy experts, including an "Energy 101" pre-panel for attorneys new to the field. The event is co-sponsored by Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy and the Environment (CLEE), UCLA School of Law's...
CONTINUE READINGPublic Lands Watch: Final Changes to Sage Grouse Protections
BLM announces final version of revisions to protections for sage grouse on Western federal public lands
This blog post was drafted by Jamie T. Martinez. On March 15, the Trump administration finalized its plan to loosen protections on federal lands for the habitat of the greater sage-grouse, a near-threatened species that lives in sagebrush country across the western United States. The final plan amends the resource plans adopted in 2015 to guide conservation of greater sage-grouse habitat on BLM-managed public lands in California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah ...
CONTINUE READINGClimate Change in the Political Spotlight
Climate change has been a low-visibility political issue. That may be changing.
Generally, climate change doesn’t get much attention as a political issue. That may be changing now. And if it is, that could have important implications. One sign of the times is Jay Inslee’s run for the Presidency. He may not be at the top of the lists of prospects, but he’s an established, well-respected political figure. And climate change is the centerpiece of his campaign. As the Atlantic observes, “[o]ther Democrats are, suddenly, talking about climate ...
CONTINUE READINGWater Rights Administration and Oversight During Past California Droughts
Part 2 in a Series on Improving California Water Rights Administration and Oversight for Future Droughts
In the first post in this series, I talked about why it’s important for the state of California to spend time preparing for future droughts even in wet years like this one. This post examines some of the lessons from past droughts that can inform these preparations. Past droughts have stress-tested California’s water management institutions, and some of the vulnerabilities they revealed still linger today. Given that climate change is expected to increase the ...
CONTINUE READINGGoverning Geoengineering at the United Nations? No, at Least Not Now
A proposed resolution falters at the UN Environment Assembly
At this week's UN Environment Assembly, countries' representatives debated a draft resolution regarding climate geoengineering. Unable to come to agreement, it was withdrawn Wednesday. This is not surprising to me, as -- for the most part -- leaders presently lack political incentives to take action. I am also not particularly disappointed, because a counter-productive resolution seemed fairly likely. As background: in the face of continued insufficient cuts to...
CONTINUE READINGWhy is Trump Getting the Cold Shoulder from the Car Companies?
The answer: His rollback promises them little profit and much uncertainty.
Usually, you’d expect a regulated industry to applaud an effort to lighten its regulatory burdens. So you would think that the car industry would support Trump's effort to roll back fuel efficiency standards for new vehicles and take away California's authority to set its own vehicle standards. But that effort is being met by silence in some cases and vocal opposition in others. According to E&E News, “senior officials from EPA and the National Highway Traffic ...
CONTINUE READINGWhy It’s Important to Prepare for Drought During a Deluge
Part 1 in a Series on Improving California Water Rights Administration and Oversight for Future Droughts
In the midst of the wet winter storms bringing rain and snow to California this year, you might not expect drought preparations to be among the state’s current priorities. And yet, they need to be. In this post, I’ll explore why to set the stage for a blog series that explores what the state can do to prepare for the more frequent and intense droughts we expect in California's future. The series draws on work my colleagues and I did for California's Fourth ...
CONTINUE READINGDo Impossible Regulatory Deadlines Cause Faster Progress?
A: Maybe, but only in a roundabout way. (And at a cost.)
Just about nobody who’s knowledgeable in the field thinks the U.S. electric grid can be made carbon free in ten years. Having spent the past two years lambasting the Trump Administration for ignoring the experts, I’m loathe to disagree with the expert opinion on this one. But even if the ten-year deadline set by supporters of the Green New Deal is unattainable, there’s still an argument that it’s useful to set ambitious, even if unattainable, goals. There...
CONTINUE READINGUCLA Law’s Ann Carlson Interviewed on CBS’s 60 Minutes Discussing Juliana v. U.S., Landmark Climate Change Lawsuit
Segment Provides Legal Context for Groundbreaking Children’s Climate Case
Our colleague Ann Carlson appeared on 60 Minutes this past Sunday for a lengthy on-camera interview with Steve Kroft, discussing the Juliana v. U.S. lawsuit filed by Our Children's Trust. Begun in 2015, the lawsuit has survived several appeals so far, and is headed to oral arguments in June at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Portland, Oregon. Juliana v. U.S. is significant because, if the plaintiffs secure a victory, the federal courts could ...
CONTINUE READINGWhat DO You Call Someone Who Rides a Scooter?
The Dangers Of Pigeonholing
Meredith's now-classic post on scooters buried within it a crucial question: what do you call someone who rides a scooter? Meredith herself suggested "scooterist" or "scooter-rider." The hard-working staff here at Legal Planet fiercely debated the issue. I originally thought that the name for someone who rides a "scooter" is..."scooter." The point is that a scooter scoots, and so does someone who rides it. Julia argued for scootor as a way of different...
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