Integrating Climate Mitigation and Adaptation, or: I’m in BIG Trouble
Don't Try This At Home
A couple of weeks ago, I noted in a discussion of water and climate change, that in many cases, seeking to adapt to climate change effects might actually wind up undermining efforts to mitigate it. My example was lining irrigation canals, but there are lots of them out there. I began to think "Gosh. There really should be an article discussing this problem." It was only a few days later that I realized that there is a very recent article discussing this problem, and ...
CONTINUE READINGThe Emergence of Climate Law Courses
It's an increasingly widespread law school course.
The U.S. legal system has only begun to address climate change in the past ten or fifteen years. It was inevitable that this subject would infiltrate basic environmental law courses, especially given that there have now been three Supreme Court cases on the subject. But climate change is now increasingly the subject of separate courses and seminars. I recently conducted a survey of environmental law professors and found that almost sixty schools now have a regular o...
CONTINUE READINGWhy Michael Mann’s Defamation Suit Against Climate Denialists Is the Right Move
With the facts on his side, there's no reason to hide
Dr. Michael Mann, one of the country's leading climate scientists, has been harassed, threatened, and berated for his views that human actions are contributing to global climate change. But not just from anonymous commenters on websites -- from leading publications like the National Review Online. After being compared to Jerry Sandusky and having the credibility of his work questioned, Mann finally has had enough. He is suing Rand Simberg of the Competitive Enterprise In...
CONTINUE READINGClosely Confined Chickens, Interstate Conflict & the Dormant Commerce Clause
Is Proposition 2, California's Pioneering Animal Welfare Law, Unconstitutional?
Last week witnessed a most interesting constitutional showdown between sovereign states in U.S. District Court in Sacramento. At issue is animal welfare legislation California has enacted both at the ballot box and through its elected representatives. The enemy combatants are a coalition of midwestern states led by Missouri, aligned against the State of California, with both sides represented by their respective state Attorneys General. The dispute goes back t...
CONTINUE READINGTransit-Oriented Projects In California Won’t Be Penalized For Traffic Impacts Anymore
Governor's Office Releases New Environmental Review Guidelines
Back in 2013, there was significant discussion about reforming the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), with the business community and its attorneys arguing that CEQA is nothing more than a litigation tool for opponents of new projects. Some environmentalists and labor unions countered that CEQA is necessary for decision-makers to adequately assess the environmental impacts of new projects and mitigate negative outcomes where feasible. So of course the result...
CONTINUE READINGThe Hydrology of the Public Trust
The Public Trust Doctrine Gives California Regulators the Authority to Monitor Groundwater Pumping
A couple of weeks ago, Rick reported that California might finally be ready to institute some form of statewide groundwater regulation. (The original California Water Act regulating surface water is now more than 100 years old, and when it was enacted, many observers thought that groundwater regulation was just around the corner: hey, what's a century between friends?). Consider me skeptical: both bills are currently in suspense in the Legislature. Moreover, the fact th...
CONTINUE READINGU.S. Agricultural Policy, Climate Change, and Existing Legal Authority
New research from Berkeley Law finds that the U.S. Department of Agriculture can act now to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is much in the news these days, as it implements the massive and always-controversial farm bill, works to improve access to national forests, strives to enhance the U.S. position in international agriculture markets, and wrestles to contain this season’s extensive wildfire activity. What is less obvious to many is that the USDA has cultivated within its various agencies a culture that acknowledges the challenges related to clim...
CONTINUE READINGFDA Discretion and Animal Antibiotics
FDA has stalled for 30 years in regulating antibiotics in animal feed. A court says that's O.K.
The FDA seems to be convinced that current use of antibiotics in animal feed is a threat to human health. But the Second Circuit ruled recently in NRDC v. FDA that EPA has no duty to consider banning their use. That may seem ridiculous, but actually it's a very close case legally. The court's discussion of Massachusetts v. EPA as an administrative law precedent should be especially interesting to environmental lawyers. The Second Circuit's ruling illustrate...
CONTINUE READINGWater and Climate Change, Backwards
Will Conserving Water Contribute to Global Warming?
All of us (except Republicans and adherents of Movement Conservatism) know that climate change is dangerous for rising temperatures, but also because of its effects on other natural resources. Most significantly, it is hardly news that increasing and variable temperatures will reduce, for example, the Sierra snow pack and cause greater evaporation, eventually leading to more severe water shortages. One logical implication of this trend is to redouble efforts at wat...
CONTINUE READINGHydrogen “Fool” Cells Vs. Electric Vehicles
The debate over the best clean vehicle technology
California recently committed to spending $50 million on 28 public hydrogen fuel cell charging stations, throwing gasoline (bad pun) on the fire of a growing debate: electric vehicles vs, hydrogen fuel cells as the carbon-free vehicle technology of the future. California policy makers seem to think it may be both, based on their spending to support the two technologies. But the evidence to date suggests that hydrogen fuel cells, which automakers like Toyota are co...
CONTINUE READING