You Have the Right to Generate Your Own Electricity
Preserving an implicit right in the face of electric utility resistance
Do people have the right to generate electricity for their own use and still remain connected to the grid? Of course they do. You see it every day. Without prior registration or a background check, anyone can go into a hardware store and buy a diesel generator. Homeowners and businesses can install rooftop solar photovoltaics and enjoy the benefits of low-carbon energy. A business can install backup generation to ensure that it can rely on a steady supply of power. I...
CONTINUE READINGWhat Economists Don’t Get About Our Relationship With Nature
No, climate change isn't less of a problem if people get used to a devastated world.
People often adjust to problems that seem terrible upfront. Some studies show, for instance, that people who who lose limbs are very unhappy for awhile but then start to adjust to their positions. Some economists argue that something similar may happen with climate change -- we might find that we don't miss extinct animals or disappearing habitats nearly as much as we think we would. If so, they suggest, we should adjust our predictions of the cost of climate chang...
CONTINUE READINGCould FDA’s Approval of GMO Salmon Actually Be Good for the Environment?
Farmed GMO fish could help reduce pressures on wild stocks.
FDA has -- after more than two decades of consideration -- approved the marketing of genetically modified salmon in the U.S. As the NY Times reports, this decision has had push-back from the quarters you might expect . Says one critic: “This unfortunate, historic decision disregards the vast majority of consumers, many independent scientists, numerous members of Congress and salmon growers around the world, who have voiced strong opposition.” I blogged about ...
CONTINUE READINGHappy World Toilet Day!
For Billions of People, Sanitary Facilities Are No Laughing Matter
It may seem silly to observe World Toilet Day, but as the motto of the World Toilet Organization (which was founded on November 19, 2001) reads: it's no joke. Literally billions of people lack proper toilet facilities, and it can have severe impacts. Consider this recent testimony from a woman who grew up without one: To get there, I had to walk 10 minutes, stand in the queue for my turn and be vigilant about my safety. At crowded times, like in the morning and evening...
CONTINUE READINGNIMBYs Gone Wild!!
New Proposed Initiative Would Make Los Angeles a BANANA Republic
Los Angeles is in the midst of an affordable housing crisis: the city's renters pay on average nearly half of their disposable income on rent alone. This threatens the city's social and economic health: you simply cannot have a great city and hollow out its middle class. But NIMBYs never rest, and in the midst of this crisis have proposed this: The Coalition to Preserve L.A. announced plans for a ballot measure, titled the Neighborhood Integrity Initiative, that wou...
CONTINUE READINGThe Mexican Energy Revolution
After decades of state control, Mexico opens its energy sector
November 20th is Revolution Day in Mexico – a national holiday celebrating the end of its ten year uprising against the dictator Porfirio Diaz. Also this month, Mexico will begin accepting bids on up to 6 million certificates for renewable energy, hoping to add up to 2,500 megawatts of clean electricity to its energy mix. It’s the latest step in a multi-year effort by President Peña Nieto to liberalize (and, according to some, revolutionize) Mexico’s energy sector...
CONTINUE READINGPromises to Keep
In the run-up to the Paris talks, the major economies have all pledged carbon reductions.
With Saudia Arabia's pledge last week to cut emission, all of the world's major economies are now on board. In a nutshell, here is what they are promising. Except as noted, the target dates are all 2030. A number of countries have subsidiary promises in terms of percentage of renewable energy or of bigger cuts premised on international aid, which aren't included here. DEVELOPED COUNTRIES Australia. 26-28% (2005 baseline) Canada. 30% (2005 baseline). Europe...
CONTINUE READINGA gift from the Montreal Protocol parties to the Climate Convention
Montreal Protocol parties agree to negotiate amendment to limit HFCs
Last week, the parties of the Montreal Protocol took an important step to broaden their treaty’s chemical controls to contribute to limiting climate change. The chemicals at issue are the HFCs, or Hydrofluorocarbons. (Like the other halogenated chemicals relevant to ozone depletion, the acronym tells you the chemical composition of the class of chemicals. The HFCs are derivatives of simple hydrocarbons – methane, ethane, propane – in which some, but not all, of ...
CONTINUE READINGThe Ninth Circuit Takes EPA to Task (Twice)
EPA's pesticide registration efforts trigger forceful response
Judge McKeown of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals recently wrote of the EPA, "Although filibustering may be a venerable tradition in the United States Senate, it is frowned upon in administrative agencies tasked with protecting human health." Yikes. What did the EPA do to elicit such a reaction from a federal judge? The short answer: they took too long to act. The statement was part of a decision granting the extraordinary remedy of writ of mandamus compelling t...
CONTINUE READINGWhat Is An Externality?
And Could the Leading Property Text Have Gotten It Wrong?
The idea of an externality is fundamental to environmental law and policy -- and indeed, to just about any aspect of the common law (at least outside criminal law, and maybe even there). When I teach first-year Property law, I have to introduce the concept pretty early on in the course, as I imagine most teachers do. Which is why I and the students get so perplexed in this description from the 8th edition of Dukeminier et al's Property, by far the best-selling text i...
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