Sierra Club asks Gov. Brown to re-examine AB 32 cap-and-trade
On May 9, Sierra Club requested that Governor Jerry Brown "re-evaluate" the cap-and-trade rule promulgated by the California Air Resources Board. The Sacramento Bee has some initial reactions and you can read the original letter here. As noted in our earlier posts, CARB's cap-and-trade rule has come under judicial scrutiny and its status is somewhat unclear. Sierra Club raises two main objections. First, it questions the role of offsets in the rule. According to...
CONTINUE READINGScholastic, Inc. publishes pro-coal curriculum for fourth graders, apparently paid for by coal industry
Yesterday, I wrote about a satirical campaign in which anti-coal activists spoofed a Peabody Energy website in order to publicize the link between burning coal and childhood asthma. The satirical campaign included fake child-oriented games and discounted asthma inhalers. But all satire aside, the coal industry really is marketing its product directly to children. The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, a fabulous organization that works to address negative ...
CONTINUE READINGAnti-coal satire (with My First Inhaler) punks Peabody Energy
Peabody Energy -- last seen on this blog as the real party in interest whose proposal to mine more coal on Indian land in Arizona had to go back to the drawing board because of this UCLA environmental law clinic case , and immortalized in the John Prine song "Paradise" -- has been punked. (I've never actually used that word before; the Forbes article I've linked here actually came up on the first page of a Google search on the word "punked" a few minutes ago.) T...
CONTINUE READINGNewt is Yet Another Mind-Changing Republican Candidate Climate Denier
This climate change ad, posted today in a Salon piece on Newt Gingrich and his "enviornmentalism problem," is a must watch: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qi6n_-wB154] Yes, newly declared Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich appeared with Nancy Pelosi in a 2008 youtube video to argue that we must do something about climate change. But more recently he's backed away from his support and now says that "It's an act of egotism for humans to thi...
CONTINUE READINGThe High Speed Rail Sacramento Smack-Down
California has been going about planning high speed rail all wrong, and Sacramento appears to be taking notice. Yesterday, the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) released a report recommending major changes in the way California implements high speed rail. In addition to a complete reorganization of the governing structure of the High Speed Rail Authority, the LAO recommends an entirely different "starter route" for the system. Currently, the system is slat...
CONTINUE READINGImportant New IPCC Report on Renewable Energy: Good News
Yesterday the IPCC released its Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation (SRREN). To the extent that such a heavily edited and negotiated report contains a bottom line, it seems to be this: As infrastructure and energy systems develop, in spite of the complexities, there are few, if any, fundamental technological limits to integrating a portfolio of RE technologies to meet a majority share of total energy demand in locations where suit...
CONTINUE READINGThe Clean Air Act and Greenhouse Gases: Full Employment Act for Lawyers
For several years now, large law firms have sought work related to climate change, though prior to President Obama's election the work was relatively thin. Sure there were challenges to California's legislation to regulate greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from cars; defenses to claims under the National Environmental Policy Act and California Environmental Quality Act; and an occasional nuisance suit against large GHG emitters to defend. There was even action at the U.S....
CONTINUE READINGThe story of the Price-Anderson Act: how Congress made nuclear power financially viable in the U.S. by eliminating accountability for risk
Ever wonder how nuclear power plants have been able to get financial backing in the U.S. despite the huge, and largely uncertain, potential risks they pose? Or why there are nuclear plants within a few hours’ drive of major population centers such as Los Angeles and New York? Or who will pay the costs that result from any future U.S. nuclear accident? A law called the Price-Anderson Nuclear Indemnity Act provides at least part of the answer to each of these quest...
CONTINUE READINGGreat New Blog: AJWS Global Voices
American Jewish World Service, one of the most effective international anti-poverty and pro-development organizations in the worlds, has a new blog up. It's called Global Voices, and features not only the work of AJWS grantees but also how issues of poverty and human rights interact with ecosystem protection. Some of the recent posts focus on issues such as the ecological impact of dams, the dangers of tilapia farming, controversies surrounding genetically-modified M...
CONTINUE READINGThe Official Produce of Legal Planet
Wandering in my local supermarket the other day, I came across a special for "Local Organic Cara Cara Oranges." No misprint: two Caras are required. Hmmm... local, organic, and Cara. That's it! They named it after my co-blogger. Obviously, it should have some official status. Note that I am making an admission against interest here, since the most obvious competitor is the local organic Jonathan apple. Its Wikipedia entry is particularly appropos. Th...
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