Why Tesla’s Nevada Gigafactory Could Be Bad For The Environment, Compared To A California Site

Electric vehicle pioneer to announce its siting decision today

Some California environmentalists may be celebrating now that Tesla has apparently decided to build its $5 billion "gigafactory" in Nevada instead of California. Lawmakers here had toyed with the idea of weakening the state's signature environmental law, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), to help expedite review on the factory and therefore encourage Tesla to locate in-state, possibly in Stockton. But those plans fell through last week. But Tesla's d...

CONTINUE READING

Some (sort of) good news on sea level rise

Reef growth may be able to keep pace with climate change, keeping island nations above water

That sea level rise driven by global warming will soon make low-lying island nations uninhabitable has been widely publicized and readily accepted. In 2009, then-President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives held a cabinet meeting underwater in full scuba gear to raise global awareness of the threat of climate change. (The underwater meeting later became the core of a documentary film, The Island President, released just as Nasheed was deposed.) That same year, the U.N. ...

CONTINUE READING

UARG Strikes Back

Will UARG Persuade the Supreme Court to Overturn New Air Quality Standards?

"UARG" sounds like the name of a monster in a children's book or maybe some kind of strangled exclamation.  But it actually stands for Utility Air Regulatory Group, which represents utility companies in litigation.  UARG did well in two important Supreme Court cases last year, winning part of the case it brought against EPA climate change rules and getting the limited outcome it advocated in another case (EME Homer).  So its legal efforts deserve to be taken seriousl...

CONTINUE READING

Misleading Attacks On California’s New Transportation Analysis Under CEQA

Big Law Firm Holland & Knight Misrepresents New State Guidelines

Last year, the California legislature passed badly needed reform to change how agencies evaluate a project's transportation impacts under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).  The Governor's Office of Planning and Research (OPR) was tasked with coming up with new guidelines for how this analysis should be done going forward.  As I blogged about, the new proposed transportation metric, vehicle miles traveled (VMT), will inherently benefit infill projects and...

CONTINUE READING

A Hidden Property Gem From Justice Jackson

Where Do Property Rights Come From?

Although it is never fun to do new class preparation, I like teaching new classes because it forces me gives me the opportunity to learn new material and new areas of law. So it is this semester, when I will teach water law for the first time. In this case, not only have I learned a new subject matter, but discovered a hidden gem of property law, which I usually teach. Not surprisingly, it comes from Justice Robert Jackson, whom I regard as the best writer to have eve...

CONTINUE READING

The Wonders of Denialisms

Are there no limits to the human capacity to deny scientific facts?

If you're inclined to doubt science, why not start with the germ theory of disease?  After all, isn't it implausible that illness, death, and even mass epidemics are caused by tiny invisible organisms that invade our bodies?  And what's the evidence for that, really?  Just the findings of scientists who can get big grants from NIH to study these so-called bacteria -- not to mention studies financed by Big Pharm which makes a lot of money with supposed cures -- and the...

CONTINUE READING

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 READING

The 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 READING

Why 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 READING

Closely 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 READING

Join Our Mailing List

Climate policy is changing rapidly. Stay in the loop with expert analysis via email Monday - Friday.

TRENDING