Your Legal Planet Weekend Movie: Watch the Greenland Ice Sheet Melt!
Forget the cinema or Netflix. Legal Planet can meet your movie viewing needs. This video highlights research done by Dr. Laurence Smith at the UCLA Department of Geography, who spent the summer on the Greenland ice sheet tracking its melting. Somehow seeing the melting happen from the ground has more of an emotional impact for me than seeing the depressing, yet oddly abstract, view from space. [vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/49612210 w=400&h=300]...
CONTINUE READINGNinth Circuit Finds Public Nuisance Lawsuit Unavailable to Address Climate Change Impacts on Threatened Native Alaskan Village
Today, the Ninth Circuit issued an opinion affirming a federal district court decision to dismiss the lawsuit filed by the Native Alaskan Village of Kivalina that sought damages from oil and electric power companies whose greenhouse gas emissions have contributed to climate change. Kivalina contended that the companies' greenhouse gas emissions constituted a public nuisance that contributed to the sea level rise and permafrost melting that threatens their community. ...
CONTINUE READINGNinth Circuit Rules Against Indian Tribe’s Climate Change Suit
Not much of a surprise here; a Ninth Circuit panel "has ruled against the northwest Alaska village of Kivalina, which sued energy companies over claims that greenhouse emissions contributed to global warming that is threatening the community's existence." The village brought a common-law public nuisance claim against the oil companies, but the panel held that federal common law actions are displaced by the Clean Air Act. Interestingly, the AP article gets it quite ...
CONTINUE READINGWhich Side Are Environmentalists On?
Watching Bill Clinton's interview with Jon Stewart earlier today, I was struck by one thing: Clinton's advocacy of Walmart's environmental practices. If the 42nd President is to be believed, the retailing giant has pioneered a series of seemingly impressive environmental initiatives, particularly in the use of solar photovoltaics, and in reducing VMT for its vast fleet of trucks. All very well and good, and the sort of thing that one would hope more in the business co...
CONTINUE READINGPrice Implications of the California 33% RPS as the Federal Government Cuts Green Subsidies
Frank Wolak is quoted in today's LA Times about the electricity price implications of California's pursuit of a 33% RPS by the year 2020. He argues that electricity prices will rise as a consequence of this regulation. At the same time that California is ratcheting up its RPS standard, the Federal Government is winding down its green subsidies for wind turbines and for big solar projects. Even if President Obama is re-elected, budget realities are such that I...
CONTINUE READINGFive Ideas for Regulatory Reformers
Duke is hosting a conference on Monday (10-4 ET) about conservative approaches to environmental protection. (livestream here). Here are a few ideas to throw into the mix: 1. Streamline interstate compact approval for multistate environmental efforts. This would help move authority from Washington and would provide states a better mechanism for dealing with problems that cross state lines. One possibility would be a fast-track legislative process conditioned on...
CONTINUE READINGWarren versus Brown on Energy and Environment
At the debate between Elizabeth Warren and Scott Brown last night, there was a brief discussion of energy issues. Brown defended subsidies for oil companies but criticized Warren for trying to tie him to Jim Inhofe. Unlike Inhofe, Brown does believe in climate change (at least right now -- he seems to have waffled over the past few years.) He doesn't seem to be prepared to do anything about the problem, however. A little research confirms that there's a real diff...
CONTINUE READINGSubsidizing Fossil Fuels While the Wind Sector Bleeds Jobs
Yesterday, Jonathan Zasloff wrote a post on Senator Alexander and Representative Mike Pompeo’s Wall Street Journal op-ed opposing the wind energy tax credit, which is set to expire at the end of 2012 barring Congressional action. Yesterday’s post raised the question of how traditional fossil fuel subsidies compare to renewable energy subsidies. A 2009 Environmental Law Institute report sheds some light on the “hidden” ways we subsidize traditional energy sou...
CONTINUE READINGSupersized Drinks, Social Welfare, and Liberty
Obesity is an environmental issue because the food system (from farm to table) uses a lot of energy and produces significant water pollution. More food equals a bigger environmental footprint. Sweetened soft drinks are a good example: they use corn sweetener, and corn production has a large footprint because so much fertilizer is required. There is a growing epidemic of obesity and of childhood obesity in particular. The New Scientist has a very thoughtful revie...
CONTINUE READINGMore Idiocy from the Wall Street Journal Op-ed Page
A few years ago, a friend of mine suggested starting a blog entitled something like, "Why The Wall Street Journal Editorial Page Was Idiotic Today." You'd never run out of material for posts! Certainly that was the case today, as Senator Lamar Alexander and Representative Mike Pompeo, both Republicans, make a case against the wind energy tax credit. Essentially, their argument is that the credit is tantamount to "negative energy pricing," which in their parlance m...
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