China, Energy and the Economy
The New York Times reported -- with seeming alarm -- this weekend that China is now leading the world in the manufacture of wind turbines and solar panels. Yet shouldn't we view this news as good for efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions? Action by the U.S. to reduce emissions, while absolutely necessary for geopolitical reasons and important for technology forcing, won't mean anything if China can't be persuaded to slow and ultimately reduce its exploding emiss...
CONTINUE READINGTime to make NOAA official
Cross posted at CPRBlog. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has existed since 1970, but it has never had the direct imprimatur of Congress. According to Congressional Daily, Rep. Bart Gordon (D-TN), chair of the House Committee on Science and Technology has announced that an organic act for NOAA is one of his committee's priorities for this year. NOAA authorization has been proposed many times over the past 40 years. Its time to finally get it done. Wh...
CONTINUE READINGThe California Supreme Court examines technology-based air quality emissions standards
The California Supreme Court granted review last week in a potentially important environmental case, National Paint and Coatings Association v. South Coast Air Quality Management District. The opinion of the Court of Appeal - certainly among the most colorfully-written appellate opinions I've ever read, and worth checking out for that reason alone - held that the South Coast Air Quality Management District misapplied a statutory "best available technology" standard in ...
CONTINUE READINGRiding the Energy Efficiency Wave
At the "Beyond Copenhagen Conference" at Berkeley yesterday, one of the clear messages was that energy efficiency is one of the most feasible routes forward on climate change. Energy efficiency has great interest not only to U.S. consumers, but also to countries like China that are concerned about energy security. The energy security issue is especially pressing because rising demand in Asia due to economic growth is going to push oil and natural gas prices through t...
CONTINUE READINGUS reportedly submits Copenhagen Accord pledge today
Reuters is reporting that the US has officially notified the UN today of its intention to associate itself with the Copenhagen Accord negotiated at last month's FCCC Conference of Parties. No surprises in the content of the pledge: Todd Stern, the top U.S. climate negotiator for the Obama administration, also gave notice that, as expected, it will aim for a 17 percent reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases blamed for global warming by 2020, with 200...
CONTINUE READINGObama’s SOTU speech on climate change
Last night, President Obama devoted a chunk of his state of the union speech to climate change and energy issues. He focused on the economic benefits of making our society more energy efficient and bringing more renewable power on-line, particularly the job-creation potential. Surprisingly, he didn't mention the national security benefits of reducing our dependence on foreign oil, which seems like a bipartisan political winner. As with his health care strategy, he did...
CONTINUE READINGPlastic, plastic everywhere . . . .
Several months ago, I noted a controversy about the chemical bisphenol-A and its former ubiquity in water bottles. Up until very recently, despite reports by the Environmental Working Group and others that suggested significant health risks from BPA, our federal government showed no inclination to regulate the use of the chemical in consumer products. The FDA has taken a step toward changing its mind now. A new agency report, widely covered in national media, states t...
CONTINUE READINGThe Corporate Side of Climate Change
I was surprised a few years ago when one of the speakers at a conference on climate change turned out to be a lead partner at a Wall Street law firm who counseled corporations about disclosure of climate risks. He may have been just a few years ahead of the curve. According to E&E News, the SEC has issued a new ruling on corporate disclosure of risks relating to climate change: Publicly traded companies must consider the physical impacts of climate change -- as we...
CONTINUE READING200,000 Hits on Legal Planet
When we started, we were hoping for 50,000 hits in our first year of operation, and we weren't at all confident that we could come close to that. Instead, we have now topped 200,000. That's exactly fifty thousand times as many viewings as the average law review article. Actually, I just made that up, but the fact is that law review articles have a small readership. Strangely enough, most people aren't attracted by fifty or sixty pages of technical prose accompanie...
CONTINUE READINGPriming the Political Pump for Climate Legislation
Dan, Rick, and Jonathan have all discussed the implications of the political events of the last week for climate change policy. Certainly, it seems clear that both from a vote-counting perspective and from a political momentum perspective, the special election last week made passage of a climate change bill through the Senate generally harder. And observers more knowledgeable than me have concluded that the Citizens United case will result in more corporate influence...
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