Full Speed Ahead!
The D.C. Circuit rejected efforts to stay EPA's pending greenhouse gas regulations until the court decides the merits of the appeals. It could well take a year or more for the merits to be decided, so in the meantime EPA can move forward. The court order does not indicate any view on the merits of the cases, but the court clearly rejected the doomsday scenario painted by industry and the state of Texas: Petitioners have not satisfied the stringent standards required ...
CONTINUE READINGClarifying a Cloudy Situation
One of the biggest difficulties in climate models is posed by clouds. Modelers need to know what kinds of clouds will form, at what altitudes, and with what precipitation resulting. These turn out to be very hard to calculate, and scientists use heuristic approximations to fill the gaps. A new study suggests that on the whole, models are getting cloud behavior pretty much right, and that clouds probably cause a moderately positive feedback effect on climate, augmen...
CONTINUE READINGGoogle Earth Engine and Forest Offsets in California Cap-and-Trade
Last week, Google Labs released Google Earth Engine, an online platform for viewing and analyzing satellite imagery and data. Â The platform's strengths are ease of use for viewing images, collaboration tools, and use of Google's computing infrastructure to analyze the satellite data. Â Google intends to use the platform to, among other things, help developing countries track their forests in preparation for REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradat...
CONTINUE READINGCert in Connecticut v. AEP: Eight Comments
1) Well, Obama got what he wanted. And it's a good thing, too: by attempting to short-circuit public nuisance suits, he established his good faith on climate change and paved the way for bipartisan cooperation. 2) It is absurd to argue that a common-law tort claim runs afoul of the political question doctrine. I'm not an expert on it, but I know of no appellate opinion holding as much, and for a good reason, too: if a claim is committed to the political branches...
CONTINUE READINGU.S. Supreme Court to Hear Climate Change Nuisance Case
The 2010-2011 U.S. Supreme Court case promises to be a blockbuster one for environmental law.  The Court today announced that it had granted a petition for certiorari filed in AEP v. Connecticut (the lower court decision in the case is here).  The case, brought by  a number of states against the country's five larges utilities , argues that the greenhouse gases they emit are creating a public nuisance.  Jonathan has blogged about the case  several times, includingÂ...
CONTINUE READINGGMOs and German Constitutional Law
The German Constitutional Court has issued an opinion upholding severe restrictions on the use of genetically modified plants. Science reports: "With the possibility to deliberately make changes in the genome, genetic engineering influences the elementary structures of life," the court wrote. "The consequences of such interventions can be, if any, difficult to undo." The court seems to consider GM crops an unfinished experiment. "In view of science's still unfinished as...
CONTINUE READINGConnecticut v. AEP Cert Decision Soon?
A reporter just called me for background on the climate change public nuisance case from the Second Circuit, Connecticut v. AEP. She said, "As you probably know, the Supreme Court will announce on Monday whether it will take the case." Um, no, actually: I didn't know that. The Supremes make their decisions throughout the year, and they can always schedule hearings whenever they want. It's good to be the king. But that hardly means the reporter is wrong: she said...
CONTINUE READINGEPA’s crime on its 40th birthday? Having accomplished too much
EPA head Lisa Jackson waded into hostile territory yesterday with a Wall St Journal editorial defending the agency and its work. It's EPA's fortieth birthday, and she uses the occasion to acknowledge forthrightly that "[w]e reach this milestone exactly one month after the midterm elections strengthened the influence of groups and individuals who threaten to roll back the EPA's efforts." She then presents a vigorous defense of EPA's record, focusing especially on i...
CONTINUE READINGHigh Speed Rail To…Corcoran?
The saga of high speed rail in California continues. Since state voters approved a bond measure in 2008 to authorize construction of a system linking north and south, the California High Speed Rail Authority has faced lawsuits over its unfortunate planned route away from the population centers of the northern Central Valley, opposition from wealthy suburbanites south of San Francisco to the portion that would link the city to San Jose, and a huge funding shortfall to...
CONTINUE READINGWhat If They Gave a Climate Summit and Nobody Came?
Last year about this time, everyone was excited about Copenhagen. UCLA Law School even sent its own delegation. President Obama was going to come. It was the biggest thing in climate since Kyoto -- maybe bigger, since now the US had an administration that believes in science. Now? Not so much. The coverage of Cancun is about as empty as the picture to the right. Take a look at your newspapers. Wikileaks. Don't Ask Don't Tell. President Obama's morally out...
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