California Governor Jerry Brown: Environmental Saint or Sinner?
Brown's National & International Environmental Reputation Disputed by Some California Environmentalists
California Governor Jerry Brown has had a most eventful 2015, especially when it comes to environmental policy. He started the year fresh from an overwhelming election victory last November, earning him an unprecedented fourth term as California's chief executive. Brown began 2015 by declaring a state drought emergency and becoming California's "educator-in-chief," repeatedly warning state residents of the perils of and measures needed to respond to California's four...
CONTINUE READINGThe Climate Issue & the 2016 Election
There are, to say the least, a broad range of views among the candidates.
We’re beginning to have a sense of where the leading candidates stand on climate change. On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton announced a goal of 33% renewables by 2030, after saying that the "reality of climate change is unforgiving no matter what the deniers say. Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders is said to have the strongest record on climate issues in Congress. What about the Republican side? There are too many candidates to discuss in this post, but the top candi...
CONTINUE READINGA Case of Reverse Causation?
Tomorrow's Emission Determine Today's Social Cost of Carbon
Here's the weird thing: the social cost of carbon today, depends significantly on the year-by-year emissions of carbon in the future, which we obviously don't know. (Because it depends on our own future actions!) It takes some explanation to show why that's true and how it matters. If you know a bit about climate policy, you know that the SCC -- the social cost of carbon -- is the amount of harm done by adding an additional ton of CO2 to the atmosphere. You also ...
CONTINUE READINGGuess What? The Clean Power Plan Isn’t Going to Destroy America After All.
Compliance isn't turning out to be that much of a burden.
Here's the headline from the Washington Post: "Outrage over EPA emissions regulations fades as states find fixes." Senator Mitch McConnell has been telling all and sundry the plan will be a disaster and states should refuse to have anything to do with it. But even in his home state, according to the Post, the Clean Power Plan turns out not to be such a big deal: "In this coal-industry bastion, five of the state’s older coal-burning power plants were already sche...
CONTINUE READINGThe Coal Mining Stream Buffer Rule Evokes Firestorm of Protest. #getagrip
Political polarization has gotten to the point where there would be immediate denunciations if the President issued a proclamation honoring apple pie. Another intrusion into consumer choice, besmirching those who prefer cherry and pumpkin! Another blatant overreach by an out-of-control, incipient tyrant! Not only is every executive action accompanied by loud resistance, but the same explosion of outrage comes with every presidential action, major or minor, knockout...
CONTINUE READINGDeparture of E.T. (the ExtraTerritorial)
The Tenth Circuit dispels extraterritoriality attacks on state renewable energy regulations.
Extraterritoriality is a weird, one might almost say alien, incursion into judicial doctrine under the dormant commerce clause doctrine. The DCC, as it's familiarly called, prohibits discrimination against interstate commerce and undue burdens on that commerce. But industry has been attacking a wide range of state renewable energy laws under a doctrine relating to extraterritoriality. Conservative opponents of renewable energy regulation argue that any regulation...
CONTINUE READINGTragedy of the Commons–California Drought-Style
State Farmers Planting New Almond Orchards Despite Critical Water Shortages
Traveling through California's drought-striken San Joaquin Valley repeatedly over the past year, I've been surprised and disheartened to see that Valley farmers continue to convert their agricultural fields to newly-planted almond orchards. (My anecdotal observations have been confirmed by various recent press accounts.) This development is a striking, current example of Garrett Hardin's Tragedy of the Commons. Hardin was an ecologist and microbiologist whose ...
CONTINUE READINGPetroglyphs? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Petroglyphs!
So says the House Natural Resources chairman.
Henry Ford famously said “history is bunk.” A House committee chair went him one better today, dismissing prehistoric art with the term “bull crap.” Now that I’ve got your attention, here’s a little background. President Obama today designated a new 704,000 acre Basin and Range National Monument under the Antiquities Act. This immediately set off a storm of protest in Congress. E&E News provides a priceless quote from House Natural Resources Chairman...
CONTINUE READINGSacramento Judge Halts California Regulator’s Efforts to Impose Water Cutbacks
Court Rules Water Board's Administrative Process Violates Water Users' Due Process Rights
A Sacramento judge has thrown a wrench into the California State Water Resources Control Board's efforts to impose water cutbacks on several of the state's senior water rights holders. In a July 10th order, Superior Court Judge Shelleyanne Chang ruled that the Water Board's administrative process, designed to implement drought-based water reductions, violates the due process rights of several water and irrigation districts to whom the Board issued cutback orders. Jud...
CONTINUE READINGClem Shute to be honored by California bar
Boalt alum will follow Joe Sax as second recipient of environmental law lifetime achievement award
This just in, courtesy of Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger -- Clem Shute (Boalt '64) will be honored this fall with the second Award for Lifetime Contribution to the Field of Environmental Law. (The first Award, of course, went to the late Joe Sax.) Clem richly deserves this prestigious award. He has been a major player in California environmental law and policy since the dawn of the environmental era. As an Assistant Attorney General for California, he helped build...
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