Region: National
Ninth Circuit Short-Circuits Juliana v. U.S. Climate Change Lawsuit
Iconic Children Plaintiffs Lack Legal Standing to Pursue Case, Court of Appeals Rules
Earlier this month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued an order that likely ends one of the most closely-watched climate change lawsuits in recent American legal history: Juliana v. United States. The background of this litigation–which was filed in federal district court in Oregon in 2015–has been analyzed at length in …
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CONTINUE READINGPouring Gas on a Five Alarm Fire
That’s Trump’s climate policy in a nutshell. His campaign slogan should be, “Burn, Baby, Burn.”
At a dinner for oil industry CEOs last week, Trump promised to fulfill the industry’s every dream in return for a billion dollars in donations. We urgently need now is more federal climate action, not less. Yet the reelection of Donald Trump would wipe out years of federal climate action. It’s important to understand fully …
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CONTINUE READINGMobilizing Environmental Voters
People who care about the environment may not be voters. Can that be changed?
The environment is a priority for some people who don’t vote. These groups are trying to change that.
CONTINUE READINGWestern States Should Opt In to Regionalized Electricity Markets
Guest contributor Kelly Cook writes that regionalization efforts present a low risk that federal control will threaten state authority.
In the West, the benefits of electricity market regionalization appear more attractive than ever. “Regionalization” refers to efforts to expand coordination between Western states to buy and sell wholesale electricity through centralized federal power markets. Increased coordination, made possible through regional transmission organizations (RTOs – independent non-profit organizations that operate the grid and oversee the …
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CONTINUE READINGTemporary Takings and the Adaptation Dilemma
Current law penalizes adaptation measures because of the risk of takings liability.
Is it unconstitutional for the government to build a levee that reduces the risk of urban flooding but diverts the water to nearby farmlands? The answer could be yes, unless the government pays for flood easements on the rural lands. But if the government doesn’t build the levee, it faces no liability from the urban …
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CONTINUE READINGClimate Policy and the Audacity of Hope
The barriers are still huge — but we can also envision a path to success.
We should resist the allure of easy optimism about climate change, given the scale of the challenges. Neither should we wallow in despair. There’s a good basis for hope. Let’s seize the day!
CONTINUE READINGLGBTQ People Face Greater Climate Risks
A new study by the UCLA Williams Institute finds that LGBTQ people in same-sex couples are at greater risk of exposure to the harms of climate change compared to straight couples.
In August of 2005 when Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Louisiana and Mississippi, the combination of torrential rain and flawed infrastructure proved deadly. More than 1,800 people died and the price tag for the damage quickly rose to the tens of billions of dollars. In the chaotic disaster response that followed, several communities were disproportionately …
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CONTINUE READINGWhy the New Climate Reg for Coal is a Perfectly Normal EPA Rule
EPA’s approach isn’t a novel innovation. It’s just EPA applying its usual approach.
The problem isn’t that EPA’s new climate regulation for power plants will crush the coal-fired generation industry. It’s that much of the industry is so economically weak it can’t survive any kind of regulation.
CONTINUE READINGEPA’s New Power Plant Rules Have Dropped. What Happens Next?
Media battles. Lawsuits. Stay requests. And political mayhem.
The release of Biden’s new climate regulations for power plants will unleash a maelstrom of legal and political battles. One key question: Will the Supreme Court short circuit the litigation process by staying the rules.
CONTINUE READINGCould Trump Cancel the IRA?
Probably not. But also possibly yes.
The Inflation Reduction Act is Biden’s signature climate initiative. Trump has already called for repealing it, and so have some Republicans in Congress. Given the IRA’s huge cuts in carbon emissions, that would be a tragedy. Can he do that? He would certainly face some very significant barriers. Trump would need Republican majorities in the …
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