A dangerous bill
California is known in the United States for its aggressive environmental laws, some of the most aggressive in the United States. One of the key reasons for that reputation is the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). CEQA is similar to the federal National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in that it requires a public review of the environmental impacts of proposed government actions before any commitments to the project are made. CEQA, however, is generally ...
CONTINUE READINGTen Fatal Flaws in the “Regulatory Uncertainty” Argument
A current conservative refrain is the regulatory uncertainty is holding back the economy. Consider an editorial entitled "Obama's regulatory flood is drowning economic growth": Businesses large and small face more uncertainty today about the federal regulatory environment than at any point since the New Deal . . . . Seeing this tsunami of red tape flooding out of Washington, company owners and executives wisely opt to delay new hires and investments until they have a c...
CONTINUE READINGLatest polling data on climate change and political parties
The Center for Climate Change Communication at George Mason University is out with its latest poll today, on "Politics and Global Warming: Democrats, Republicans, Independents and the Tea Party." The poll examines the difference in views among members of those four groups on a variety of climate- and energy-related topics. First thing to note is the breakout of the Tea Party as a category separate from the others, consisting of all respondents who self-identified that...
CONTINUE READINGSustainability and the Pursuit of Happiness
There's a common vision of environmentalism that mostly involves giving things up, the basic image being one of ascetic sacrifice for the benefit of the environment and future generations. Some people actually are ascetics, and most people are willing to make big sacrifices in emergencies. But by and large, people aren't willing to give up the good life forever. So if saving the planet means living a crappy life, that's a hard sell. I've been doing a lot of thinki...
CONTINUE READINGOzone: Three More Comments
1) Ann argues persuasively that Obama's decision was terrible politics. But it is also terrible economics. As the Shrill One pointed out the other day, we are currently in a liquidity trap, i.e. there is not enough demand in the economy to pull us out of the recession, and a lot of money is simply sitting on the sidelines, uninvested, for fear that there will be no customers. Under these conditions, new ozone rules are actually a net positive for the econom...
CONTINUE READINGIsn’t Obama’s Capitulation on Ozone Bad Politics?
Numerous commentators have blasted Obama for abandoning his pledge to tighten the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for ozone despite the recommendation of a scientific advisory board that a new standard would deliver large public health benefits. The commentary has been loud and vociferous. For two compelling examples see Georgetown Law Professor Lisa Heinzerling's post at Grist.com and NRDC President Francis Beinecke's post here. On Legal Planet, Dan has a...
CONTINUE READINGInterested in Teaching Environmental Law?
Updated Oct. 10, 2011. This is a list of U.S. schools that are searching for someone in environmental law, natural resources, or energy law this year. If you're looking for such a position, hopefully this will give you a head start. There may be other law schools which have some interest in hiring in this area, or at least are willing to do so if it also gets them a Property or Torts professor. I'm pleased to see the number of schools hiring and that some are clear...
CONTINUE READINGWhen Agencies Want to Get Sued
The Friday afternoon before Labor Day announcement by the White House that it would not lower the ozone standards under the Clean Air Act has received (rightly) a whole lot of criticism. There’s been a fair amount of speculation among environmental law observers about the legality of the decision (including Dan). What’s interesting is that a subtext of this discussion is that, if the decision was contrary to the Clean Air Act, that should be a reason to criticize...
CONTINUE READINGBackpedaling on Air Quality
The White House decided to abandon a proposed revision of the air quality standard for ozone in order not to further burden a faltering economy. The story is a bit complicated. The Bush Administration tightened the standard, but not as much as EPA's science board recommended. Environmentalists sued, but desisted when Obama's EPA said it would reconsider the issue. Now the Administration has decided not to do that after all. There's an interesting question about ...
CONTINUE READINGTwo weeks of protest against Keystone XL ends Saturday
Two weeks of civil disobedience and protest against the Keystone XL pipeline ends this Saturday (Sept. 3), with a rally and final sit-in. Over 1,000 people have been arrested, including my former professor , Gus Speth. The protestors want President Obama to deny a permit to construct a pipeline to bring oil from Canadian tar sands to the Midwest and Texas—a nearly 2000 mile trek. The pipeline would cross major rivers and the Ogallala aquifer, one of the largest aqui...
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