Newsflash: Senate Passes TSCA Reform
A New Chapter In the Effort To Reform Federal Chemical Regulation For the First Time in 40 Years
In a striking turn of events, last night the Senate passed a newly revised version of the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, which would reform the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for the first time in four decades. A summary of the bill's provisions and analysis of the differences between the previous draft and the one approved last night is available here. In general, the legislation seeks to give EPA more authority and resources...
CONTINUE READINGHow do we move past the yuck factor in potable water reuse?
This post draws on two recently published articles (here and here) by an international group of collaborators: Christian Binz, Sasha Harris-Lovett, Bernhard Truffer, David Sedlak, and myself, courtesy of the ReNUWIt program. Potable water reuse is increasingly seen as a potential way to help ease urban water supply challenges. Potable reuse is as it sounds – recycling wastewater to augment drinking water supplies. There are many reasons why potable water ...
CONTINUE READINGCalifornia Supreme Court Hands Air District, Environmentalists Qualified Win
Justices' Unanimous Opinion Addresses Key "Scope of CEQA" Issue
In a closely-watched case, the California Supreme Court today issued a unanimous decision on the scope of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), California's most important and heavily-litigated environmental statute. That decision is unlikely to fully satisfy either side in the litigation, though over the long-term it would seem to favor local regulators and their environmental allies over development interests. The decision in California Building Industr...
CONTINUE READINGClimate Actions For Governor Jerry Brown’s Final Term
New report on how California's executive branch agencies can build on climate progress to date
In Paris this month, much of the talk related to California's successful efforts to date in reducing carbon emissions while growing the economy. Certainly the state has made significant progress in areas like renewable energy and electric vehicles, and Governor Brown and his administration deserve a lot of credit. But more progress will be needed to meet the state's much more aggressive mid-century goals of reducing emissions 80 percent over 1990 levels. The state...
CONTINUE READINGRoy Cohn and the Trans-Pacific Partnership
"Who Are Those Guys?"
I don't care what the law says. I want to know who the judge is. -- Roy M. Cohn I basically agree with Jim's and Dan's assessments of the substantive provisions of the TPP when it comes to environmental issues. (I have real problems with the Intellectual Property provisions, but that is another matter). For the most part, the provisions that they cite do not appear to significantly impair environmental regulation. But as former Congressmember John Dingell fam...
CONTINUE READINGDoes the Paris Agreement Open the Door to Geoengineering?
If we're serious keeping warming "well below 2°C, geoengineering may be necessary.
The Paris establishes an aspiration goal of holding climate change to 1.5°C, with a firmer goal of holding the global temperature decrease “well below” 2°C. As a practical matter, the 1.5°C goal almost certainly would require geoengineering, such as injecting aerosols into the stratosphere or solar mirrors. Even getting well below 2°C is likely to require steps of that kind or a technological breakthrough for another kind of geoengineering, removing CO2 from the ...
CONTINUE READINGChina and the Paris Agreement
The Long Road from Copenhagen to Paris
Six years ago in Copenhagen, China was seen as the spoiler. A widely read article claimed that China had “wrecked” the Copenhagen deal. One of China’s lead negotiators suggested that American envoy Todd Stern was “ignorant,” lacking in “common sense” or “extremely irresponsible.” What a difference a few years can make. On Saturday in Paris, China’s lead negotiator Xie Zhenhua was all smiles, glad-handing his way through the plenary room. Moments af...
CONTINUE READINGTPP Advisory Reports Released
As I described in my earlier post describing the environmental debate over the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Trade and Environment Policy Advisory Committee (TEPAC) has been drafting a response from its members. TEPAC is a stakeholder group drawn from industry, environmental, and consumer interests as well as independent experts that reports to the EPA Administrator and U.S. Trade Representative on the environmental aspects of U.S. trade policy. We are also required to ...
CONTINUE READINGNEWSFLASH: Paris Agreement Adopted
FINALLY, a global agreement to move forward.
The Paris agreement has now been adopted. As the Washington Post reports: "Negotiators from 196 countries approved a landmark climate accord on Saturday that seeks to dramatically reduce emissions of the greenhouse gases blamed for a dangerous warming of the planet. The agreement, adopted after 13 days of intense bargaining in a Paris suburb, puts the world’s nations on a course that could fundamentally change the way energy is produced and consumed, graduall...
CONTINUE READINGThoughts on the Accomplishments of the Paris COP
Climate Change is a Super-Wicked Problem that We're Beginning to Solve
As the 21st Conference of the Parties comes to a close in Paris, much ink will be spilled analyzing the historic agreement that 195 countries have now reached. Some of that commentary will, undoubtedly, be cynical. The agreement is not in the form of a traditional treaty requiring country ratification. The country commitments to reduce greenhouse gases are too weak. The commitments are only voluntary, with no penalty for failing to meet them. The aspirational goals to li...
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