I, Robot
The claims of climate deniers are so repetitive that someone has figured out how to automate the twitter wars: Getting into a climate change debate on Twitter could be even more exhausting than it sounds now that a software developer named Nigel Leck has automated the process. Tired of arguing with climate change deniers in 140 character quips, the programmer wrote a script to do it for him. Chatbot @AI_AGW scans Twitter every five minutes searching for hundreds of phra...
CONTINUE READINGWhy Are Conservatives So Hostile to Climate Policy?
Dan wants to know why conservatives would oppose market-based solutions to climate change that avoid greater government intervention down the road. I asked last week why traditional conservatives, who make much of preserving traditions through different generations and respecting institutions through time, would also oppose such policies. The answer to both questions lie in their fundamental misunderstanding of what American conservatism is, at least as it is institut...
CONTINUE READINGThe Truly Conservative View of Climate Policy
A nice column in the Washington Post about why conservatives should change their views about climate policy: When faced with uncertainty and the possibility of costly outcomes, smart businessmen buy insurance, reduce their downside exposure and protect their assets... And when military planners assess an enemy, they get ready for a worst-case encounter. When it comes to climate change, conservatives are doing none of this. Instead, they are recklessly betting the farm on...
CONTINUE READINGJerry Brown and the Environment
During the campaign, Jerry Brown stressed environmental issues. His campaign website has a very extensive list of proposed environmental policies. It' no surprise that he favors AB 32 and renewable energy, as well as vigorous enforcement of other existing environmental laws. Some of the other policies are a little less familiar. Here are some that struck me: Strengthen enforcement and adopt incentives to get the dirtiest vehicles off the road. The dirtie...
CONTINUE READINGPolar bear listing remanded
The headline might not sound like it, but this is good news for environmentalists. The Endangered Species Act provides legal protections for two categories of species: those that are "endangered," defined as in danger of extinction throughout at least a significant portion of their range; and those that are "threatened," defined as likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future. The distinction is important because species listed as threatened need not be given...
CONTINUE READINGCalifornia full-steam-ahead on cap and trade
Whether or not Californians focused on climate change in voting on Proposition 23 (as Ann and Sean discuss), their rejection of 23 means full steam ahead on climate change regulation. Notably, while the rest of the country leaps back from cap and trade (here's Obama throwing it under the bus in his post-election comments), California is moving ahead with cap and trade policy. Under the state's overall plan for reducing greenhouse gases back to 1990 levels by 2020, th...
CONTINUE READINGProp 23 and What It Says (Or Doesn’t) About Californians’ View of Climate Change
What conclusion should we draw from the drubbing that California gave to Prop. 23, the ballot measure that would have overturned our landmark Global Warming Solutions Act? Andrew Leonard at Salon applauds our voters for affirming "their commitment to tackling the challenge of climate change and our dependence on fossil fuels." But Sean, in his birdseye view of what the election means overall for the environment, is a bit more skeptical. I think I'm with Se...
CONTINUE READINGDoes Proposition 26 Undermine California’s Climate Change Law?
No. Not at all. Legally, we are still all systems go for AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act. First, take a look at the careful analysis that Cara, Sean, and Rhead produced a couple of weeks ago. It notes one extremely important fact about Proposition 26: its retroactive provisions only go back to January 2010, and AB 32 was enacted in 2006. AB 32 explicitly authorizes the California Air Resources Board to impose regulatory fees. Since Proposition 26 ...
CONTINUE READINGElection review: what message did voters send about the environment, and how will politicians react?
It's natural, in reflecting on the recent election, to ask whether and to what extent the results reflect public values about protection of the environment. (Well, at least for me, since I spend my time thinking about these things.) My answer: not much. But the election's impacts on environmental issues will still be significant. While some commenters (such as Joseph Romm, here branding the California election a "climate trifecta") view the defeat of Proposition 2...
CONTINUE READINGFunny, It Doesn’t Look Bluish
The initial results in California last night make it seem like a sane drop of blue in the country. Jerry Brown won for Governor; Barbara Boxer was re-elected; and Proposition 23, which would have reversed the state’s landmark climate change law, was resoundingly defeated. Voters also approved Proposition 25, which allows the state budget to be approved by a simple majority — although retains the 2/3 requirement for tax increases. But look closer. Voters reject...
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