Benevolent Paternalism or “Tough Love”?: Two Approaches for Adapting to Climate Change
Homeowners in coastal Queens, NY are outraged that their home insurance rates are going to rise sharply. Some are threatening not to buy such insurance. Such individuals must be betting that they will be "too big to fail" and that some future benevolent government official will bail them out with FEMA $ when the next Hurricane Sandy knocks out their homes. If you bet on the Superbowl, you bet with your own $. What is the difference between buying a coastal home ...
CONTINUE READINGTexas’s Unsuccessful (And Self-Defeating) Defiance of EPA
Texas has lost another round of its battle to halt EPA regulation of greenhouse gases -- this time involving its effort to drag its feet on implementation of the regulations even if it could not undo them. The effect of Texas's action is that it lost the ability to help shape how the rules apply to Texas industry, instead handing additional power to EPA. In the Wild West, this was called shooting yourself in the foot. The issue related to rules for permits for greenho...
CONTINUE READINGGuest Blogger Ken Alex: California’s Road to 2020 and Beyond
Ken Alex is a Senior Advisor to Governor Jerry Brown and the Director of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research. The views expressed in this blog post are his own. Four years ago, when I was the head of the Attorney General’s environment section, I wrote a series of guest blogs for Legal Planet focusing on practical and legal issues in moving from a carbon-based economy in California to one based on renewables. Now, from the vantage point of the Govern...
CONTINUE READINGIs the Golden State Warriors’ Proposed Basketball Arena a Proper Public Trust Use?
The Bay Area's NBA franchise, the Golden State Warriors, is collaborating with San Francisco city officials to develop a new, state-of-the-art basketball arena on a site that literally sits atop San Francisco Bay. Few would argue that the region's basketball team--a perennial second-division NBA franchise until it surged into contention last season--needs a new arena. And many observers believe that the team would be both more financially viable and accessible to its...
CONTINUE READINGAdaptation to Increased Fire Risk in the South West
Read this WSJ article and you will see some "small ball" optimism about adapting to increased fire risk. Permit me to quote one wise retired professor; "Paul Ohlenbusch, a 73-year-old former professor, lives in a retirement community north of Austin, Texas, an area plagued by drought for several years. To protect his home from possible wildfires, he keeps his house gutters free of leaves and twigs, clears tree limbs from the roof and trims shrubs at least six inches fr...
CONTINUE READINGThe Retrospective Greening of Bill Clinton
Last week, the EPA building was renamed for Bill Clinton. This a bit ironic -- not that he was anti-environmental, but the environment wasn't exactly his top priority. As you may recall, Clinton's guiding philosophy was expressed by the motto, "It's the economy, stupid." There's no reason to think he has any particular passion about environmental protection. Admittedly, there was some good news for environmentalists under Clinton. Cost-benefit review of regula...
CONTINUE READINGWhy Microeconomics is Important
Read this Yahoo News article stating the shocking "fact" that $60 trillion dollars of damage will be caused if the Artic ice melts and releases methane then read the "technical" documentation published today in Nature that explains where this huge number came from. For those who are real nerds, then go on and read the real technical documentation for this high profile Nature article. Please note that a "black box" economic model spits out an enormous damage cost esti...
CONTINUE READINGJames Hansen Goes Nuclear
The Dot Earth Blog has published an interesting piece making the case for increased nuclear power generation. Read the comments. Dr. Hansen faces some resistance from the select set of people who comment on the NY Times....
CONTINUE READINGThe Bush Ozone Standards and the D.C. Circuit
In an unsigned opinion released today, the D.C. Circuit largely upheld the Bush Administration's revision of the air quality standard for ozone. The opinion can safely be described as dull reading, but it provides some guidance to EPA about the current round of standards revision that is now underway. The law requires EPA to set air quality standards for major air pollutants "which in the judgment of the Administrator, . . . allowing an adequate margin of safety, are ...
CONTINUE READINGNinth Circuit Rejects Water Agency’s “Area of Origin” Water Rights Claim
Responding to the current drought conditions confronting California, state and federal water project officials have announced cutbacks in anticipated water deliveries this summer and fall from both the Central Valley Project (CVP) and State Water Project. It's with that sobering backdrop that a recent decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is particularly noteworthy. In an important ruling involving California water rights, the Ninth Circuit has...
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