The Quiet Failure of Climate Denial in 2013
2013 Wasn't A Good Year for the Opponents of Climate Science
The latest IPCC report proves that scientists are unwavering in their view that human carbon emissions are causing dangerous climate change. In the scientific world, climate denial has no traction. It isn't gaining traction in the judicial or congressional worlds either. First, the judiciary. A three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit, headed by a conservative judge, brushed aside objections to EPA's finding that carbon emissions endanger human health and welfare. ...
CONTINUE READINGCalifornia Headed for Record Drought: Will Critically-Needed Reforms Follow?
Confronting a Looming Environmental Disaster
The Sacramento Bee's fine environmental reporter, Matt Weiser, yesterday reported on a looming, major drought facing California and its regional neighbors. The figures aren't pretty. A persistent high-pressure front stretching over the Gulf of Alaska and most of the Northern Pacific has diverted the normal fall and winter storm track away from California and other southwestern states over the past several months. With little precipitation in the first half of ...
CONTINUE READINGCarbon Responsibility — Producers versus Consumers
Carbon emitters, not their customers, bear the primary responsibility for combatting climate change.
Has the U.S. "exported" its carbon emissions to China by relying on China to manufacture so many of our goods? There seems to be growing support for the idea that carbon emissions should be tied to consumption of goods rather than their manufacture, as the NY Times reported recently. There is a grain of truth to the idea. But consumer responsibility should be considered secondary. The primary responsibility rests with producers. Most of the debate has been...
CONTINUE READINGAttention junior scholars
University of Washington to hold third annual Young Environmental Law Scholars Workshop
The University of Washington has issued a call for abstracts for its 3rd annual Young Environmental Law Scholars Workshop. Here's how the organizers describe it: This collegial two-day workshop features discussion of works-in-progress by early career environmental law scholars: professors with two or fewer years of tenure, pre-tenure professors, visiting assistant professors, or legal fellows. We invite submissions from the broad fields of environmental, natural resourc...
CONTINUE READINGIf You’d Like to Support Our Environmental Work
It's not too late for the last tax-deductible gift!
"The time has come," the Walrus said, "To speak of many things, Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax-- and gifts to the UCs." OK, so Lewis Carroll didn't write that. But just in case you might be thinking about making a gift at the end of the year, you might consider the UC Berkeley and UCLA environmental law programs as possibilities. Both schools are doing great work on environmental policy, including this bog and much more. If you'd like to support Berke...
CONTINUE READINGNew on Ecology Law Currents
Ecology Law Currents, ELQ's online companion, features lively short-form commentary. Check out the latest, an analysis of California's cap-and-trade program. Author Penni Takade argues that the program has two key weaknesses: The first weakness is the process of allocation for GHG allowances to regulated firms. Under California’s allocation process, cap and trade will exacerbate economic inequities and raise the total cost of the program. A new lawsuit threatens...
CONTINUE READINGScholarship Trends in International Environmental Law
What do the numbers show about the trajectory of scholarship in international environmental law?
It can be difficult to identify patterns in legal scholarship. One way of doing that is to check on the frequency of key words, using Westlaw or Lexis-Nexis to track the numbers. There are some interesting patterns in scholarship on international environmental law: The field came into its own in the decade from 1987 and 1997. Indeed, the phrase "international environmental law" was barely used at the beginning of that decade but commonplace by the end. Key ...
CONTINUE READINGAn Unhappy Anniversary for Hetch Hetchy
Is It Time to Consider Restoring Yosemite's Hetch Hetchy Valley?
December 19th marks a sad event in American environmental history. It was 100 years ago today that President Woodrow Wilson signed the Raker Act, authorizing the City of San Francisco to build a dam that would flood the Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park in order to deliver water supplies to San Francisco. Contemporary accounts--including those of John Muir--attest to the stunning beauty of the Hetch Hetchy Valley. (Muir wrote: "Hetch Hetchy Valley is a g...
CONTINUE READINGEco-Friendly Gift Guide
Gift Ideas to Keep Your Holidays Green
To celebrate the holiday spirit, here are some gift ideas for your eco-savvy friends and family. May your holidays be warm (but not too warm) and bright. For the foodie: An "Eat Local" calendar For the techie: A portable solar charger For the minimalist: The gift of carbon offsets For the chef: A reclaimed wood cookbook stand For the ocean lover: A blue whale stapler For the home gardener (or to entertain the cat): The Aqua Farm, a product of two recent...
CONTINUE READINGGoing for Broke at the Climate Casino
The new Nordhaus book is good as far as it goes. But its analysis is muddled in crucial respects.
I finally had a chance to read Nordhaus’s new book, The Climate Casino, on a long flight. There are some goods lessons in the book. The book makes the case for serious mitigation, even rhough Nordhaus takes a fairly optimistic view about adaptation. Nordhaus also tells us that “it would be relatively inexpensive to slow climate change if nations all opted efficient control strategies in a timely and near-universal fashion.” He also points out that the big issue ...
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