What 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...
CONTINUE READINGAttack of the Killer Blob
A weird patch of warm weather is killing sea lions and poisoning crabs.
There's a weird area of warm water, which has come to be known as the Blob, sitting offshore of the West Coast. That doesn't sound too significant, except perhaps in terms of making things more pleasant for swimmers. But actually, it's causing a whole cascade of impacts on wildlife and humans. As the Chronicle explains: "The waters off the West Coast are hovering at as much as 6 degrees warmer than normal. The anomaly began a couple of years ago when the wall ...
CONTINUE READINGGoodbye, Keystone, Goodbye
After seven years, the project is history.
The President announced this morning that he would not approve the Keystone pipeline project. This wasn't a huge surprise at this point of the game. Still, it's a good time to take stock of the dispute. The fight was largely -- but not entirely -- symbolic. With falling oil prices, the alternative of rail transport for the tar oil has become less appealing. The oil can also be shipped via other pipelines. But those too are less appealing at the moment becaus...
CONTINUE READINGDon’t Blame Canada Anymore
Climate Policy Triumphs Over South Park in New Trudeau Government
We Americans tend to think of Canadians as nice, friendly, well-intentioned folk, a little more left-of-center than the US -- sort of what Blue America would be if it didn't have to deal with the south. For the last 10 years, though, that has been anything but true: the Conservative government of Stephen Harper brought US Movement Conservatism north, and in the recent election campaign used good 'ol American-style race-baiting as the centerpiece of its election strat...
CONTINUE READINGMuddling Through on Land Use Reform
Will Reform of Parking Regulations Ever See the Light of Day?
More than half a century ago, Charles Lindblom described the policy-making process as "The Science of Muddling Through." California just demonstrated this with a new law, AB 744 (Chau), that holds important potential but in and of itself will not change the landscape. (Here is the most recent bill analysis). The law says that for developments projects within a half mile of a transit stop that have the maximum number of affordable units, cities cannot require more tha...
CONTINUE READINGRecreational marijuana legalization in California
Will a proposed ballot initiative on recreational marijuana legalization in California help the environment
In the wake of the enactment by the legislature of a regulatory structure for medical marijuana, it looks like voters in 2016 will probably be able to decide whether to legalize recreational use as well. Leading advocates for legalization of recreational marijuana have submitted a language for a ballot initiative to the California Secretary of State (pdf) – given the money and political support behind this initiative, it seems likely to get the signatures necessary to ...
CONTINUE READINGLaw Schools Doing Good
How Law Schools Serve the Public
Most people probably think of law schools, when they think of them at all, as places that train future lawyers. That's true, and it's important, but law schools do a lot more. Faculty scholarship makes a difference --law review articles laid the foundation for many of the ideas now guiding judges (both on the Right and the Left) . But I'd like to focus here on another, more recent activity by law schools -- the environmental law clinics and research centers that ...
CONTINUE READINGWhat Do You Know About Interior: Test your knowledge
Inspired by Dan Farber’s recent quiz about EPA, here is a similar challenge for the Department of Interior. The questions go from easier to harder (and more obscure). The last question will really test your knowledge. But first some quick history. The Department of the Interior was created by Congress in 1849. As the Department's website recounts, its original mandates were a real grab bag of responsibilities taken from other departments, consolidating: "the Gene...
CONTINUE READINGClean Power Plan Litigation Kick-Off
Flood of lawsuits follows publication of EPA rules to regulate power-plant GHGs
*Updated: Nov. 17, 2015* On Friday, October 23, 2015, the Federal Register formally published EPA’s rules to control greenhouse-gas emissions from fossil-fuel-fired power plants under the Clean Air Act. I described the basics of the rules after EPA released the unofficial text in August. The final text of the rule to regulate new and modified power plants under Clean Air Act § 111(b)—known as the New Source Performance Standard, or NSPS—is now available at 8...
CONTINUE READINGJapan Removes Whaling from ICJ Jurisdiction
In a decision that surprised many, almost 18 months ago the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Japan’s whaling activities in the Southern Ocean were not justified under the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW). Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs replied soon after that “as a state that respects the rule of law … and as a member of the global community, Japan will abide by the ruling of the court.” The ICJ decision and Jap...
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