Is Duke Energy Playing the Regulation Game?
Just a few hours prior to the July Fourth holiday, the New York Times reported that Duke Energy Corporation announced a $32 billion merger with Progress Energy, creating the nation's largest utility. It will serve more than 7 million customers throughout the southeast and midwest. Okay. But buried in the story was this nugget: In the conference call, company executives said that one advantage of the combined company was that 85 percent of its business would be tra...
CONTINUE READINGDid the Founding Fathers Believe in a Strong Federal Government? You Betcha.
If there's one thing that we know about the Founding Fathers, it's that they didn't want a weak national government. But there was a group who wanted a weak national government. They were called the anti-Federalists, and they were appalled by the proposed Constitution. These believers in small-government fought tooth-and-nail against adoption of the Constitution. They lost. If the supporters of the Constitution had wanted a government "small enough to drown in a...
CONTINUE READINGDoes Any Pollutant Mean ANY Pollutant?
It got less attention than it should because it was upstaged by the Supreme Court's healthcare decision, but last week's D.C. Circuit ruling on climate change was almost as important in its own way. By upholding EPA's regulations, the court validated the federal government's main effort to control greenhouse gases. To the extent that the case got public attention, it was because the court affirmed EPA's finding that greenhouse gases endanger human health and welfare....
CONTINUE READINGThe Chief Justice’s “Switch in Time” — Practically Huge But Legally Minimalist
"The switch in time that saved nine" is how one wag described a key vote change by a Justice during the New Deal. The "saved nine" part may or may not apply, but Chief Justice Roberts obviously switched his vote in the healthcare case. I can't remember a case in which the opinions made this so obvious. He also wrote an opinion that is designed to have as few legal repercussions as possible. There's been a lot of speculation about a possible Roberts flip, based i...
CONTINUE READINGWhy Did Mono Lake Become a Cause Celebre?
Why did saving Mono Lake become such a potent political issue during the late 1970's and early 1980's? For a book I am currently writing on the case, that is a critical question. After all, hundreds of groups -- hundreds of environmental groups -- seek media oxygen for their cases all the time. Both nationwide and particularly in California, Mono Lake stood out: more than deforestation, or desertification, or the expansion of national parks, or urban stormwater run...
CONTINUE READINGConditional Spending and the Clean Air Act
Ann suggests that Chief Justice Roberts' opinion today in Sebelius might open up the Clean Air Act to new challenges. That seems right, but it also seems to me that there are two key differences between Medicaid and the CAA/Highway Spending nexus. 1) Medicaid is an entitlement program; in other words, federal money flows more or less automatically. It does not require Congress to appropriate money annually. Thus, it may make sense in the Medicaid context to ...
CONTINUE READINGAnother (Mostly) Uninformed Post About the Health Care Cases and Environmental Law
I've only skimmed the opinion (National Federation of Independent Businesses v. Sebelius) but so far don't think the Court's holding that the health care law's individual mandate violates the Commerce Clause will have any real effect on environmental law. The Court's decision is concerned with whether Congress can require someone previously unengaged in commerce -- the individual who refuses to buy health insurance -- to engage in commerce through requiring the purchase ...
CONTINUE READINGThe Health Care Cases: Instant Uninformed Reaction!!
1) Wow. On the specific issue here, I'll take it. 2) Environmental lawyers will need to look at this decision very carefully. From an initial very quick parsing, it appears as if Chief Justice Roberts' opinion has cut back the scope of Commerce Clause authority and under the Necessary and Proper Clause as well as limiting the ability of the Federal Government to condition federal spending to states' action. All of these provisions very directly concern the sco...
CONTINUE READINGFinally: An Environmentally Conscious Environmental Organization
Give so much as a dime to any environmental organization, and you are on their mailing list for life. And that's just the start: you're on the mailing list of every other organization they share lists with. The mail starts to pile up fast, as does the annoyance at going through it. Notice something? All that paper undermines their claim to environmental sensitivity. Yes, I know: it's all recycled. Or Forest Stewardship Council-certified. Great. But it's still ...
CONTINUE READINGLos Angeles Climate Change Adaptation
My UCLA colleague Alex Hall has released a high quality micro-geography report highlighting within Los Angeles variation in heat wave risk in the medium term future. I salute his efforts. This type of research is exactly what I expect more climate scientists to deliver namely high quality information that is correlated with what Mother Nature will actually do in the future. Now that we are "armed" with this information, how does this new news affect the law, public ...
CONTINUE READINGJoin Our Mailing List
Climate policy is changing rapidly. Stay in the loop with expert analysis via email Monday - Friday.
