California’s Effort To Set 2030 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Fails
What are the implications for ongoing climate efforts?
In another, even bigger setback for the environmental community in California, SB 32 (Pavley), the bill to set greenhouse gas targets for 2030 and 2050, was pulled yesterday and will be tried again next year. The winners are the oil companies, who face tough regulations and competition from California's climate efforts. The failure is a big sting for climate advocates in the leading state on this issue. I'm not an expert on the politics, but it appears from press ...
CONTINUE READINGBuilding Climate Coalitions
A New Paper in Science Illuminates the Political Dynamics
Economists are used to evaluating policy instruments based on their economic effects. No surprise there. But a recent paper in Science argues that the political effects may be just as important. Perhaps it's not a coincidence that three of the four authors are political scientists; the fourth is Eric Biber, a frequent contributor to this blog. (The other three are Jonas Meckling, Nina Kelsey, and John Zysman). Here's how the process works. Some policies, lik...
CONTINUE READING“Big Oil” Defeats California’s Petroleum Reduction Legislation, But It May Not Matter
Western States Petroleum Association will likely face tough regulations and market conditions anyway
It was a rare defeat yesterday in the legislature for California's environmental community. After major victories in 2006 with AB 32 (to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020), in 2008 with SB 375 (to reform transportation and land use planning), and in 2010 with a voter rejection of the oil industry's attempt to roll back AB 32 (Prop 23), climate advocates were getting comfortable in the Golden State. But the Western States Petroleum Association (aka...
CONTINUE READINGDisaster Law and Policy
A new textbook on the emerging field of Disaster Law.
I'm delighted to announce the publication of the third edition of Disaster Law and Policy. Although I might not normally use this blog to promote a new book, I'd like to think in this case this is more than just shameless self-promotion. That's for two reasons: the lion's share of the credit for the improvements in this edition goes to my co-authors, James Chen, Lisa Sun, and Rob Verchick. So it's not really self-promotion, it's promoting their work. And more impo...
CONTINUE READINGAs Predicted, Premature Suit to Block Clean Power Plan Implementation Fails
Petitioners don't meet standards for extraordinary writs
The case filed by 15 disgruntled states, led by West Virginia, seeking to block the implementation of the Clean Power Plan has been dismissed by the D. C. Circuit Court of Appeal as premature. Here's an explanation of the legal and political basis for the lawsuit. As predicted when the states filed the lawsuit, the D.C. Circuit found that the states couldn't meet the extremely high standards necessary to block the lawsuit before the regulations it challenged had bee...
CONTINUE READINGThe Shadow Price of Carbon
Merging Cost-Benefit Analysis and Feasibility Analysis
The U.S. government has devoted a lot of time and effort to estimating the social cost of carbon. This is basically a standard exercise in cost-benefit analysis, following a familiar three-step process: 1. Impacts. Figure out the physical impacts of the emissions. This involves setting up some emissions scenarios and then running computer simulations to see how much they would change global temperatures. Scientists are fairly confident about the floor for th...
CONTINUE READINGThe Top Ten Reasons Trump Should Endorse a Carbon Tax
A bold move, if Trump is brave enough to go there.
Not that he's asked for my advice, but here are ten powerful reasons why Donald Trump should endorse a carbon tax: 10. It would be completely inconsistent with his past positions. 9. It would shock the GOP establishment. 8. It would shock the media. 7. He's already endorsed a tax increase for the rich, so why not? 6. It could allow reductions in other taxes, which he favors to increase growth. 5. He could mock Fox News for it...
CONTINUE READINGCan We Trust the Science? The Challenge of Irreproducible Results
In the peer review process, articles submitted to scientific journals are sent to experts in the field who then assess the methodology, results and conclusions. Based on their feedback, authors often revise and re-submit, publishing an improved article as a result. Peer reviewers rarely attempt the actual experiments described in the paper. Irreproducible results are always a potential problem. Indeed, there is even a satirical journal dedicated to the issue (including...
CONTINUE READINGClimate Hike Meets Climate Change
Team Emmett Hikes Glacier National Park with Climate Ride
Team Emmett -- a group of seven women raising money for the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment -- just returned from an incredible trip to Glacier National Park sponsored by the fabulous Climate Ride (Ted posted here about his experience on Climate Ride last year). We hiked to a glacial lake and an historic chalet; saw grizzlies, black bears, mountain goats, big horned sheep and moose; slept in teepees on the Blackfeet Reservation; met an incredible...
CONTINUE READINGRegistration Opens for 2015 Yosemite Conference–The Nation’s Top Environmental Law Event
This Year's Yosemite Conference Promises to Continue a Tradition of Excellence
Registration is now open for the 2015 edition of the State Bar of California's Environmental Law Conference at Yosemite. That conference, held each fall, is unquestionably the premier environmental law-related event in California. I would go so far as to argue that it's actually the top such program in the entire United States. The Yosemite Conference annually draws approximately 400 of California's top environmental lawyers from private practice, government and...
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