California Issues the First State Guidance for Corporate Climate Risk Disclosure
CARB takes an important step in an emerging field of climate policy
The California Air Resources Board this week released draft guidance for corporate climate-related financial risk disclosure, providing some insight into what large companies will be required to report beginning in January 2026. This is a quiet but fairly monumental step in climate risk disclosure in the US, and a reminder of the power of state governments to advance strong climate policy despite retrenchment at the federal level. In 2023, California Senate Bill 261...
CONTINUE READINGWhere Should The United Nations Move?
The Trump Administration has abandoned the world, and the world should return the favor -- with a climate twist.
You might have missed it amidst the sewer hose of feces that Donald Trump’s regime is spraying on the nation and the world, but the United States announced last week that it will not extend a visa to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to attend the United Nations General Assembly. I’ve been a Zionist all my life, and remain one. But this is outrageous. Apart from being a massive gift to the PA’s rival, Hamas, and Hamas’ alter ego, Benjamin Netana...
CONTINUE READINGTrump’s War on Wind is Dumb. It also Makes Sense.
The Drain is a weekly roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.
The Trump administration’s attack on wind energy feels dumber and dumber every day. Let’s see if we can make it make some sense. After that, the major headlines of the week. Last Friday, his Transportation Department withdrew $679 million for offshore wind projects at 12 ports. Last month, the administration sent a stop-work order to Revolution Wind, a major wind energy project off the coast of Rhode Island that is fully permitted. Halting construction grabbed...
CONTINUE READINGThank You, President Trump, for Opening the Door to Carbon Tariffs
Democrats should make it clear that this will be on the agenda if the Supreme Court upholds Trump’s tariffs.
If the Supreme Court upholds Trump’s tariffs, the next Democratic President should declare a climate change national emergency on Day One and impose a carbon tariff. The tariff should be set at levels that will pressure countries to clamp down on emissions relating to industry. Democrats should immediately announce that this will be on the agenda for the next President. This strategy would have a series of advantages. First, announcing it now would put the court...
CONTINUE READINGThe Trump Administration takes on the International Maritime Organization
International Maritime Organization
Once again, the new US thumbs its nose at international consensus.
Despite its constant chaos, the Trump administration is at base quite consistent in its approach to both international law and climate change -- it seeks to minimize international cooperation while maximizing greenhouse gas emissions. No surprise, then, that the Secretaries of State, Energy, Commerce and Transportation last month issued a joint statement critical of the International Maritime Organization's "Net-Zero Framework" aimed at achieving net zero GHG emis...
CONTINUE READINGThe Failed Effort to Protect Workers from Toxics: A Labor Day Reflection
The OSHA law called for rigorous regulation. It never happened.
Labor Day began as a celebration of workers’ rights, which makes this a good occasion to ask what went wrong with workers’ right to be free from toxics in the workplace. On paper, federal law provides powerful protection but that law has never been seriously implemented. Courts and industry opposition deserve some of the blame, but probably less important than deindustrialization and the decline of the American labor movement. Here’s the puzzle: Congress manda...
CONTINUE READINGFederalism Is For Suckers, Part The Millionth
Donald Trump's latest constitutional rewriting puts the lie to venerable constitutional scholarship
Here’s a good legal Rule Of Thumb: whenever anyone makes a federalism argument concerning any dispute, do not take them seriously. It’s a mug’s game. The Venn Diagram of “people who argue for federalism” and “people who lack control over the federal government” is pretty much a perfect circle. And the positions will completely flip depending on the political correlation of forces. And no one, of course, epitomizes this better than the current occu...
CONTINUE READINGHow to Dissent? Learn American History
LA Public Library
The Drain is a weekly roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.
It sounds cliché, but when you face a crisis, it helps to remember times that you’ve overcome adversity. That’s the power of history. And it’s one of the reasons I think the new PBS documentary “Clearing the Air: The War on Smog” is crucial to share right now. In the 1940s, dark, smoky clouds crept over Los Angeles. People covered their eyes and wore gas masks to social functions. Visibility was so bad that cars crashed and LAX was shut down. Concerned ...
CONTINUE READINGWhy are California’s Zero-Emission Truck Standards Under Attack?
They are highly effective, as CLEE’s new Factsheet series on Zero-Emission Trucks documents.
The world of zero-emission trucks is at a pivotal moment. On one hand, the technology is rapidly advancing, and manufacturers are producing a growing number of zero-emission truck models in Europe, China, and here in California. Yet on the other hand, this clean transition is facing significant political and legal challenges from the U.S. federal government. In June 2025, President Trump signed into law a congressional resolution under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) ...
CONTINUE READINGCan California Try Again with Vehicle Pollution Limits?
A new Sixth Circuit decision provides encouragement.
In May, Congress effectively killed the most recent efforts by California to clean up its vehicle fleet. Although many people seem to have assumed the contrary, this may not be the end of the road for California regulators. A new court of appeals decision is an encouraging signal that California may be able try again when the political forces in DC are less militantly anti-environmental. Background. The issue involves two different laws. The first is the Clean...
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