The question of triage
The latest Delta report issued by the Public Policy Institute of California goes well beyond the Delta. Titled Managing California's Water: From Conflict to Resolution, the report takes on the entire water management structure set up by state and federal law. There's a lot in the report, which should be required reading for anyone interested in California water management, or more generally in the tensions between environmental protection and resource exploitation. Perh...
CONTINUE READINGMichele Bachmann’s Unconstitutional Light-Bulb Bill
Michele Bachmann has introduced legislation to overturn the statute requiring the use of energy-efficient light bulbs, according to E&E News. One feature of the bill is its escape valve: Bachmann's bill would allow the mandate to stand if the Government Accountability Office can prove the energy efficient bulbs would meet three criteria: that they provide real cost savings for consumers, significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions and do not produce health risk...
CONTINUE READINGBoehner Tweet on Plastics Sums Up Republican Disdain for the Environment
In hardly the biggest news story of the day, but one that really irks me, House Speaker John Boehner tweeted this morning, "The new majority -- plasticware is back." He's referring to the move by the Republican majority to eliminate deposed Speaker Nancy Pelosi's initiative to green the House of Representatives. The initiative included -- among other things -- the use of biodegradable trays, flatware and coffee cups in place of traditional plastic and styrofoam in th...
CONTINUE READINGDesigning City Streets That Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions
In the U.S., city planners have typically designed streets to enhance the comfort of the driver. Unfortunately, the very qualities that serve this goal tend to discourage foot traffic, bicycles, and transit use. The result is that standard street design tends to encourage activities that increase greenhouse gas emissions, and discourage more efficient ways to move around. In a new report from the City Streets Project (an initiative from Berkeley Law’s Center for Law...
CONTINUE READINGThe Huge Benefits of Air Pollution Regulation
EPA has a new report on the benefits from the increased pollution controls required under the 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act. According to E&E, A two-decade-old crackdown on smog and soot under the Clean Air Act will yield about $2 trillion in annual benefits by 2020, according to a study that was released by U.S. EPA this morning and was touted as proof that the embattled agency's rules are an economic boon for the American people. Those rules prevented an ...
CONTINUE READINGIndia Coal Tax to be Used for Carbon Sinks and Clean Energy Technology
This is how you are supposed to do it. Via the Hindu, Indian Finance Minister Mukherjee's Budget uses carbon charges to combat climate change: The [tax] slapped on coal in last year's budget will help pay for schemes to protect and regenerate forests and clean up polluted sites announced in this year's Budget. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has allocated Rs. 200 crore each to the Green India Mission, an ambitious ten-year Mission which is a key element of India's...
CONTINUE READINGWhy Economists Are Right and the Tea Party is Wrong About Government
Tea Party libertarians and their congressional supporters hate environmental regulation. They could learn a lot from Econ 101. Economists generally believe in free markets, and most of them are party hard-nosed in assessing arguments for regulation. Nevertheless, they endorse two arguments for government action. The first economic reason for regulation is the existence of "externalities." Externalities are just costs that one person or business can impose on ano...
CONTINUE READINGClimate Change and the Pope
Obviously, I need to pay more attention to news from the Vatican, since this story is a year old: Pope Benedict XVI focused his annual address to ambassadors accredited to the Vatican on the environment and the protection of creation. He denounced the failure of world leaders to agree to a new climate change treaty in Copenhagen last month. In his address to diplomats from more than 170 nations accredited to the Vatican, Pope Benedict expressed concern about the failure...
CONTINUE READINGThis week it’s bad news for the oceans
I try occasionally to report good news on this site, to counteract the tendency of most environmental lawyers to suffer periodic depression. But this week I can't find anything but bad news in the marine context. Pour yourself a glass of wine, click, and cry: The World Resources Institute has published a new report, Reefs at Risk Revisited, updating a 1998 study on threats to coral reefs. The key conclusion: more than 60% of the world's coral reefs "are under immedia...
CONTINUE READINGHelpful Resources for Environmental Law Research
Berkeley's law librarians have put together some great links and resources for environmental law research. Despite budget cuts, they still do amazing work. Here are some of the main resources. Basic Environmental Law Resources: Boalt Research GuideHelps you find print and electronic sources available at law school and university libraries for researching environmental law and related scientific or technical information -- includes many web resources. Introduction to Pl...
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