White House review delays EPA mountaintop removal guidance
Cross-posted at CPRBlog. EPA has announced that it will delay finalizing its guidance memorandum on Clean Water Act permitting for mountaintop removal mining projects pending review by the White House Office of Management and Budget. The announcement is bad news for Appalachian streams, and worse news for environmental interests hoping the Obama administration won't completely cave to regulated interests. The guidance was issued in interim form on April 1 of last year....
CONTINUE READINGA Risky FWS Proposal to Limit ESA Petitions
The Endangered Species Act has long been a lightning-rod for controversy. The last administration tried to significantly circumscribe the scope of the ESA in a wide range of ways (see, e.g, here). The Obama Administration up to this point in time has in general sharply contrasted with its predecessor in ESA management, including listing a lot more species and reversing some of the more controversial proposals of the last administration. (But there are exceptions, s...
CONTINUE READINGEnvironmental Justice and Adaptation to Climate Change
I'm beginning to wonder whether we need an "Endangered People Act" to ensure that the most vulnerable get the protection they need from climate change impacts. Climate change will disproportionately affect vulnerable individuals and poorer regions and countries, as I discuss in a recent paper comparing adaptation efforts in China, England, and the U.S. For example, by the end of the century, the number of heat wave days in Los Angeles could double, while the number in ...
CONTINUE READINGGood News from the Budget Negotiations?
It is, of course, absurd that the House, Senate, and White House are even negotiating about budget cuts in the midst of the Great Contraction. But it does seem that the environmental community has gotten something of a win -- at least if you believe the Senators most closely involved in the negotiations: Under intense pressure from green groups and their members, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) announced Friday that Republican proposals to gut the Clean Air Ac...
CONTINUE READINGEcology Law Quarterly publishes Volume 37 number 4
ELQ's latest issue, 37(4), is now available online. It begins with a warm tribute to the late Phil Frickey. The articles cover a wide range of topics, from Canadian environmental to renewable energy siting, genetics and the Endangered Species Act, and the role of tribes in water pollution regulation in Maine. The issue closes with a review of Tim Egan's latest book, The Big Burn. Check it out, using the links below or directly from ELQ's website. Philip Frickey (In Me...
CONTINUE READINGConservatives and climate change
Dan notes, in a recent post, the ways in which potential Republican presidential candidates are backwards-pedaling on whatever statements they might once have made supporting action to address climate change. (Climate change is apparently the new former mistriss -- we've all flirted in the past with things we now regret.) Former Congressman Bob Inglis (R-S.C.) spoke at UCLA Law earlier this week and shed some light on the current Republican allergy to climate act...
CONTINUE READINGNew life for a founding member of the environmental law blogosphere
Welcome back to Environmental Law Prof Blog, which has been relaunched by a diverse and energetic group of young environmental law profs. Contributors include Lincoln Davies, Brigham Daniels, Blake Hudson, Lesley McAllister (a PhD graduate of Berkeley's Energy and Resources Group), and Hannah Wiseman. Here's how they describe their blog: Welcome to the Relaunch of the Environmental Law Prof Blog! We are here to stimulate discussion and thought about the ever-growing a...
CONTINUE READINGUCLA Law Symposium: Perspectives on Climate Change
Please join us at UCLA Law School on April 15th for the 2011 Environmental Law Symposium, Perspectives on Climate Change, Pollution and the Clean Air Act. The keynote speaker will be Gina McCarthy, Assistant Administrator for EPA's Office of Air and Radiation. Please RSVP. You can also check out the program for more information. Panel topics will cover ongoing questions about climate change and the Clean Air Act. What is EPA's strategy for tackling climate change under ...
CONTINUE READINGRight on the Commerce Clause, wrong on the ESA
Cross-posted at CPRBlog. As Rick noted earlier, the Ninth Circuit is now the fifth federal circuit court of appeals to reject a Commerce Clause challenge to the ESA. In San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority v. Salazar, a Ninth Circuit panel upheld protection of the Delta smelt. I agree with Rick's analysis of the Commerce Clause holding, but wanted to make two additional points. First, while a petition for certiorari is almost inevitable, it's unlikely to be gr...
CONTINUE READINGNew Assistant-Dean/Law-Professor Position at Pace
I was asked to post information about a new academic job opening at Pace Law School. This isn't something that we've done before on this blog, although we did give a list of schools with openings earlier in the academic year. But providing this information seems like a useful service to our readers and to the law school community. If this sets a precedent and we get too many requests to accommodate easily, we'll set up a separate page for job postings. Here's the a...
CONTINUE READING