Guest Blogger Justin Pidot: The Gray Wolf Delisting Revisited
Last week, Holly posted an excellent discussion of the latest wranglings in the Fish & Wildlife Service’s ongoing effort to delist the gray wolf in the mountain west. I share her discomfort with Congress’s decision to reinstate the delisting decision through an appropriations rider. But stepping back from the arcane separation of powers questions dominant in the legal case, I think we ill-serve the Endangered Species Act and biodiversity conservation more...
CONTINUE READINGParking in Los Angeles Creeps into the 21st Century
The Los Angeles Times reports that the City has decided to inject at least a little rationality into its parking policy: in April, the City will begin ExpressPark, which will focus on a 4.5 square-mile zone in the city's downtown, and will set parking rates based upon demand. It will use sensors and other technology to measure demand at about 6,000 sidewalk meters and 7,500 spaces in public parking facilities such as the Convention Center. Officials will adjust the cost...
CONTINUE READINGIs USTR Trying to Increase China’s Carbon Emissions?
Our friends Daniel Firger and Michael Gerrard at Columbia Law School's Center for Climate Change Law have written a useful new paper analyzing two important pending WTO climate cases. Of these, the more important appears to be DS 419, in which the United States is challenging China's wind energy subsidies. Firger and Gerrard note that the factual record remains unclear pending future briefing, but at first blush, the entire action appears bizarre. First, the United ...
CONTINUE READINGGreen Tweets
Donald Smith has put together a list of environmental tweeters worth following, including environmental scientists, other scientists with environmental interests, media folks, and environmental groups. For that matter, you can also follow my blog posts via @dfarber if for some reason that's easier than using the Legal Planet website to keep track. I have to admit, however, to not being terribly twitter-savvy....
CONTINUE READINGMore on California Environmental Leader & Coastal Advocate Peter Douglas
Legal Planet colleague Jonathan Zasloff has previously written about the recently-announced retirement of long-time California Coastal Commission Executive Director Peter Douglas. I'd like to add a few additional comments about Peter, my long-time mentor, client and friend. Peter Douglas has devoted the past four decades of his incredibly rich and active life to the cause of environmental protection. As a California legislative staffer, he helped draft the 1972 initi...
CONTINUE READINGThe GOP Candidates on Energy (and Environment)
I've taken this information from the websites of some of the Republican contenders. What they say about their policies and records may not be exactly objective, but it's interesting to see how they'd like to be perceived on environment and energy. Here are four takeaway points: Republican primary voters apparently don't care very much about environment or energy issues -- some candidates don't even bother to address these issues on their website. Environment is se...
CONTINUE READINGCalifornia Works to Promote Energy Efficiency Retrofits
California has much to brag about when it comes to energy efficiency. Per capita, the state's residents use far less energy than our national counterparts while enjoying an equal or better standard of living, thanks to energy efficiency standards developed in the 1970s: But the state is committed to doing better. Last week, I was invited to Sacramento to present findings from the Berkeley and UCLA Law white paper "Saving Energy" at a legislative hearing on the economi...
CONTINUE READINGClimate, Energy, and the Presidential Race
Michele Bachmann ripped into Tim Pawlenty last night for his past support of cap-and-trade. "When you were governor of Minnesota, you implemented cap and trade in our state.... you said the era of small government was over. That sounds a lot more like Barack Obama if you ask me." Several of the other candidates have backed away from their previous support for cap-and-trade measures as governors. It remains fascinating that this mainstream economic concept, long co...
CONTINUE READINGThe Greening of Tisha B’Av
Three days ago, I fasted on the Jewish holy day of Tisha B'Av, which marks and commemorates the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem. Jews observe the day also by reading Eikha, the biblical Book of Lamentations. No fast day could be considered pleasant, but it has always been a particularly meaningful day for me, not the least because it runs so counter to Americans' concept of history: as the great historian Richard Hofstadter incisively observe...
CONTINUE READINGGifford Pinchot’s Birthday
Gifford Pinchot (the final "t" is silent) was born on August 11, 1865. He was responsible for founding the Yale School of Forestry, which remains a major center for environmental research and teaching today. Like Chief Justice John Marshall, he is also considered the founding father of an institution even though he wasn't the institution's first leader -- in Pinchot's case, the institution was the Forest Service. He remains a controversial figure for environmentalis...
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