If 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 ...
CONTINUE READINGWith 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 READINGWhy 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 READINGA 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 READINGSkinning 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 ...
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