New 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 READING

Scholarship 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 READING

An 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 READING

Eco-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 READING

Going 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 ...

CONTINUE READING

With Utility Power Purchases, Does the Environment Matter?

When does the approval of a contract trigger environmental review?

If an electric utility asks regulators to approve a contract to purchase power from someone else’s power plant, should the regulators consider the environmental implications before saying yes or no? Of course they should. But let me ask the question again, using a bit of California legalese: Does a decision by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to approve or reject a Power Purchase Agreement between a utility and a third-party supplier trigger environmen...

CONTINUE READING

Why Pollution Regulations Aren’t Taxes

Opponents of environmental regulations love to call them hidden taxes. But constant repetition doesn't make this idea true.

If you've seen a statement that regulations are hidden taxes, that's not too surprising.  Googling  "regulation hidden taxes" produces over three million hits.  But in fact, pollution regulations and taxes are completely different. The reason is simple. A tax removes value  from the private sector.   Environmental regulations simultaneously remove value  from one part of the private sector and increases value elsewhere (usually in the form of improved health). ...

CONTINUE READING

A Bad Hollywood Ending for Smart Growth — What’s the Sequel?

Judge rules the downtown plan for transit-oriented growth is fundamentally flawed

Smart growth advocates are lamenting a judge's decision yesterday to toss out the environmental impact report (EIR) on Hollywood's years-in-the-making plan for higher-density growth around the city's subway stops.  Hollywood is one of the few communities in California willing to increase growth around transit stops and along transit corridors, and the demand for housing and office space there is apparently sufficient to accommodate new development without the need for p...

CONTINUE READING

Skinning Cobras and Climbing Trees in Belgium

Trying to save energy in Europe and around the Mediterranean

Brussels is at least two cities in one: a modern European municipality rich in history and containing some spectacular gilded palaces, and a capital city. It is the seat of government for Belgium – a flag flies over the palace when the king is nearby – and the capital for the European Union. The governing side of things is represented by massive (almost scary) office complexes -- everywhere. The local courthouse is a palace with a dome 340 feet high, and the complex ...

CONTINUE READING

A solar energy fight in Arizona

The rising political power of residential solar power

There’s a fight over renewable energy occurring in Arizona right now.  The state’s largest public utility asked state regulators for permission to greatly increase the fees paid by homeowners who have solar power on their houses.  The utility’s argument is that the increase in solar power produced by these houses is putting a burden on the electricity grid – but that solar producing homeowners are not paying their fair share, both because they don’t use a lot...

CONTINUE READING

Join Our Mailing List

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

TRENDING