Guest Blogger Ken Alex: The Issue of Scale in Climate Solutions
Post #10 in a Series on California Climate Policy by Ken Alex, Senior Policy Advisor to Gov. Jerry Brown
[This is the tenth post in a series expressing my view of why California’s actions on climate change are so important and how they will change the world. The introductory post provides an overview and some general context.] The issue of scale is intertwined with political will, discussed in my prior post,but also poses separate challenges. If solar power had more political support, it would scale more quickly. As noted in the previous blog post, Florida and ot...
CONTINUE READINGEmmett Institute’s Prof. Ann Carlson Named to California Committee Evaluating Cap-and-Trade
I am happy to share the news that California Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Los Angeles) has named fellow Legal Planet blogger Ann Carlson, Shirley Shapiro Professor of Environmental Law and co-director of the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, to serve on California's Independent Emissions Market Advisory Committee. The five-member committee is tasked with performing an annual review of California's cap-and-trade program and other env...
CONTINUE READINGThe Paradox of Electricity Deregulation
This is one setting where "deregulation" is a lot more complicated than regulation.
You might think that deregulation means sweeping away regulations, which ought to make the law much simpler. But the opposite is true in the electricity sphere. The regulatory system in states taking the traditional fixed-price approach is actually much easier to understand than the so-called deregulation method. Instead of saying "deregulation" it would be better to use the term "floating-price regulation." The basic of fixed-price regulation is actually pretty e...
CONTINUE READINGAchieving Sustainable Freight in California — Free Webinar On Law & Policy Solutions
Berkeley Law event on Thursday, March 29, 10-11am will feature new report from a recent symposium
California's freight system contributes to one-third of the state's economy. But it is also responsible for some of its most significant emissions challenges, including toxic air pollution and greenhouse gases. To discuss solutions, the Center for Law, Energy & the Environment (CLEE) at UC Berkeley Law is hosting a free webinar this Thursday at 10am on the future of sustainable freight in California, as part of the launch of a new report on the topic. CLEE's forth...
CONTINUE READINGSand Trap
You can add sand to your list of global environmental crises.
You already know about the climate crisis, fisheries collapse, ocean acidification, and the biodiversity crisis. Now you can add a fifth one: the global sand crisis. The demand for sand is exploding due to burgeoning construction in China and other developing countries. The result: water bodies are being devastated by massive dredging operations. Lake Poyang is up the Yangtze River from Shanghai. Shanghai is booming, having constructed as many high-rises in just...
CONTINUE READINGActual True Story: Trump Admin. Proposes Bold New Regulation
Yes, it's hard to believe. But it actually did happen.
On Thursday, the FDA made a stunning announcement about a new regulation for cigarettes. Given that this is the Trump Administration, you might have thought they were going to require school lunch programs to hand out cigarettes or something. But no. FDA is proposing -- or more accurately, is proposing to issue a proposal -- that would cut nicotine levels in cigarettes so low as to make them them non-addictive. If the Obama Administration had proposed the same thin...
CONTINUE READINGWill Pruitt join Sessions In Expanding the Federal Government’s Attack on California?
California Vehicle Emissions Standards At Stake
It's no secret that the Trump Administration has it out for California. Attorney General Jeff Sessions just sued the state for its refusal to aid Immigration and Customs Enforcement in detaining undocumented immigrants. Donald Trump just claimed that highly popular Governor Jerry Brown is doing a terrible job, despite Brown leading California out of a crippling recession, leaving the state with a $6 billion surplus, and presiding over a booming economy. And this...
CONTINUE READINGThe Disagreeable Mr. Pruitt
The list of his six worst traits starts with paranoia and ends with unbounded ambition.
I’m sure that Scott Pruitt has his good side. Probably he loves dogs. But his bad traits are, well, pretty hard to overlook. Here are some of the main characteristics of the man who is now charged by statute with protecting our environment: Paranoia. As Grist says, “in just his first year, he has reportedly expanded his around-the-clock security detail at a cost of at least $2 million annually. He spent $25,000 on a secure phone booth inside his office.” And h...
CONTINUE READINGCLEE Launches California Climate Policy Dashboard
New resource offers snapshot of state’s climate laws, programs, and regulators
The Center for Law, Energy and the Environment (CLEE) at UC Berkeley School of Law has launched the California Climate Policy Dashboard, a new web resource offering an overview of the key laws, programs and agencies driving California’s pioneering effort to tackle climate change, including: The landmark greenhouse gas emission reduction laws, AB 32 and SB 32, which call for a 40% reduction below 1990 levels by 2030; Key programs such as the cap-and-trade system...
CONTINUE READINGContentious California Beach Access Case Heads to U.S. Supreme Court
Longstanding Martins Beach Controversy May Well Capture Justices' Attention
The U.S. Supreme Court's 2018-19 Term is already shaping up as a big one for environmental law in general and the longstanding tension between private property rights and environmental regulation in particular. The Court has already agreed to hear and decide two cases next Term raising the latter set of issues: one involves the question of how extensively federal regulators can limit development of private property that's deemed by government to be "critical habitat" f...
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