Guest Blogger David Spence: Why Some Electricity Markets Will Struggle With Decarbonization
David Spence is Professor of Law, Politics & Regulation at the University of Texas at Austin
Recently the New York Times published an article chronicling the financial problems experienced by one of the world's premier developers of concentrated solar power (CSP) facilities. The financial headwinds facing CSP are a sign of a more fundamental problem electricity markets face: namely, capturing all of the important values we attach to electricity production. Most utility-scale solar and wind farms are owned by independent power producers (IPPs), not traditional...
CONTINUE READINGA Sea Change in Climate Politics
Something strange has happened in Florida: Rising seas have changed GOP views.
There was a surprise question about climate change at the last Republican debate. What was surprising wasn't the question itself. Instead, it was the source of the question: Tomás Regalado, the Republican mayor of Miami. It turns out that this wasn't a fluke. Regalado and the Republican mayor of Miami Beach have spoken out in an op. ed. about climate change: "The overwhelming scientific consensus is that the rising sea levels are caused by the planet warming,...
CONTINUE READINGCreating An Exit Strategy for Our Use of Natural Gas
To meet long-term greenhouse gas reduction goals, all fossil fuels have to go, even natural gas.
Coal is the climate’s Public Enemy #1. The use of natural gas has helped to ensure that the coal problem has not become even worse. Without natural gas, we would use more coal for space heating and for many more industrial processes than is currently the practice. Without natural gas, our reliance on coal for electricity generation would be at least 50% greater. Many describe natural gas as a “bridge” fuel that helps us avoid more coal use now, and buys us some...
CONTINUE READINGUCLA Law and Berkeley Law Are Recognized Among Top Five Environmental Law Programs in New U.S. News Rankings
Environmental Law Programs Thrive in California's Public Universities
I'm pleased to report that the environmental law programs at both UCLA Law and Berkeley Law are among the top five in the country, according to the new U.S. News and World Report law school specialty ranking for this year. Berkeley is ranked #4, and UCLA is ranked #5. (Technically, there are six top-five schools, since UCLA and Georgetown tied for fifth.) As has been the case in many recent years, specialized law schools with a deep curriculum-wide commitment to en...
CONTINUE READINGJudge Garland Has a Strong Record of Environmental Protection
If Ever Confirmed, He's a Good Bet to Uphold the Clean Power Plan
President Obama’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court, Judge Merrick Garland, has a record on the D.C. Circuit Court that environmentalists should celebrate. He is almost always deferential to agency interpretations of statutes, including environmental ones (SCOTUSblog has a good summary of his record through 2010 on agency deference). When he has not deferred to the Environmental Protection Agency he has sided with environmentalists. And he has ruled in some signif...
CONTINUE READINGTrump vs. EPA
To combat the anti-environmentalism of his base, we need to stress public health issues.
Donald Trump wants to abolish EPA and leave environmental regulation to the states. Given that many environmental problems cross state lines, it's not clear how he thinks this would work. But never mind that. A more immediate problems is understanding why this position may appeal to his core voters. For candidates like Cruz, it's not hard to understand their anti-environmentalism. The GOP has been very close to the extractive industries (coal, oil and gas, et...
CONTINUE READING500 Points of Light
How do law schools promote environmental law? Let me count the ways.
My favorite Sesame Street character is the Count.* Like him, "I love to count Things." A list of law school programs in environment and energy law, recently compiled by Ed Richards at LSU, gave me the opportunity to do just that. Here are some of the things that I counted: 39 environmental law clinics 40 LLM programs. 25 joint degree programs 54 environmental law centers 57 certificates of specialization 22 environmental institutes By themselves...
CONTINUE READINGFukushima + 5
What's happened since then?
Five years ago today, Japan was hit by a huge earthquake and tsunami, resulting in the Fukushima reactor meltdowns. Where do things stand today? Here's a quick wrap-up: Compensation. TEPCO, the utility operating the reactors, now estimates that it will pay $56 billion in compensation to victims. Clean-up. The plant has been stabilized, according to the Washington Post. TEPCO has a plan to construct a 1500 foot frozen ice dam around the plant to keep radio...
CONTINUE READINGThe Devil is in the Design: Forming California’s New Groundwater Agencies
By Dave Owen and Mike Kiparsky
Cross-posting from the Environmental Law Prof Blog. This post was written by Dave Owen and Mike Kiparsky. It is based on a recent report, co-authored with Nell Green Nylen, Holly Doremus, Barb Cosens, Juliet Christian-Smith, Andrew Fisher, and Anita Milman. Not that long ago, the opening words of one of Joe Sax’s articles described California pretty well. “We Don’t Do Groundwater,” the article’s title began, and until recently, that was true...
CONTINUE READINGThe Supreme Court Vacancy and EPA’s Mercury Rule
The rule limiting toxic pollution from coal plants now has a rosier future.
Among the many ramifications of the current vacancy on the bench, its effect on the EPA's mercury rule seems to have escaped much attention. It may already have helped EPA defeat an effort by states to get a stay from Chief Justice Roberts. But it has much broader significance. Some background: The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision written by Scalia, vacated the rule and sent it back to EPA. The Court directed EPA to determine whether regulating toxic emissions ...
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