Tell Your Reverend To Go Jump In The Lake
Dan, your post is thoroughly persuasive to me, but I'm not sure that it would persuade many climate skeptics. Â There are two reasons for this: 1) Â You assume that there is at least a 50/50 chance of climate change occurring. Â That is a highly conservative assumption -- except for climate skeptics. Â Most climate skeptics are not unpersuaded by the science based upon scientific reasoning: they believe that climate change is hoax being perpetrated by a liberal cabal. Â...
CONTINUE READINGThe Reverend Bayes Visits Lake Mead
Land Letter reports that Lake Mead has continued to recede in the face of an 11-year drought, as we are apparently heading into a La Nina period that will probably continue the drought. This will put some pressure on adaptation measures, particular in terms of Las Vegas: For Las Vegas, which draws 90 percent of its water supply from the lake, the worst-case scenario would occur if the surface drops below the lower of the city's two intakes to 1,000 feet, cutting off th...
CONTINUE READINGA Question on Agency Pre-emption of State Law
Dan, any reason to think that the powers that be will actually pay any attention to the ABA? As you know, the Bush Administration formally decided to ignore it regarding judicial appointments. On something like this, does the ABA have any status greater than your typical interest group? It would be interesting to see the reaction of the Administrative Conference of the United States, a very useful agency charged with making recommendations about improving federal bu...
CONTINUE READINGAgency Preemption of State Law
Administrative agencies sometimes issue regulations that have the effect of overruling state law -- and sometimes that is the sole effect of the regulation. This proved quite controversial during the Bush Administration, which used agency rulemaking efforts to cut back on state tort law. The ABA has a adopted a new resolution dealing with this issue. The resolution reads: RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association urges Congress to address foreseeable preemption ...
CONTINUE READINGClimate Change, Afghanistan, and the Model Penal Code
It's hard to look at this week cover of Time and not want to remain in Afghanistan. That was probably the magazine's intention. But let's do a quick cost-benefit analysis here.  I have argued elsewhere that we could save far more women from repression, violence, and brutality by taking all the money and effort we are currently using in Afghanistan, and fighting the sex trade, forced prostitution, slavery (still victimizing 27 million people worldwide), and the degra...
CONTINUE READINGUpton Sinclair and Climate Change (Lack of) Policy
You know that things are getting bad when cool-and-collected Ann Carlson asks whether climate deniers and foot-draggers can sleep at night. It seems to me, though, that there is a pretty straightforward answer, courtesy of Upton Sinclair: It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it. This doesn't mean that people know that they are killing the planet, and don't care.  Rather, it is that getting them to se...
CONTINUE READINGWhile Rome (Moscow) Burns, Pakistan and China Flood, Washington Does Nothing
Grim -- almost apocalyptic -- headlines seem to greet us daily. Pakistan faces the worst floods in almost a century, displacing millions from their homes and killing thousands. The UN is calling the floods "the greatest humanitarian crisis" the organization has ever faced. Russia swelters in unprecedented heat accompanied by horrific air quality. The average daily death toll is 700 in Moscow and total deaths may climb to 15,000 or even higher. The Russian economy...
CONTINUE READINGCredit Where It’s Due: Villaraigosa’s 30/10 Plan
I've been somewhat critical of LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's environmental policies, which tend to have more style than substance. But I have overlooked his 30/10 plan, which (as the New York Times reported the other day) might revolutionize the way sustainable infrastructure is built in American cities. That's unfair, because the Mayor has really done the right thing here. A couple of years ago, Los Angeles voters passed Proposition R, which added a half-cent to ...
CONTINUE READINGCalifornians still support action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to new report
California, for better or worse, is still a bellwether state on many public policy issues. Â Public opinion here matters, not just as a predictor of our state's future political direction, but also nationally. Â And California's residents' opinions about environmental issues are particularly important, given our state's leadership on environmental issues. Â Right now, there is a fierce battle in the state over whether voters will prevent implementation of our landmark ...
CONTINUE READINGDoes Christian Environmental Thought Rest on a Mistake?
Talk to Christians interested in relating their faith to environmental concerns, and at some point the phrase "Dominion Theology" will arise. This comes from Genesis 1:26, which is conventionally translated as And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. The above t...
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