California water deal struck (just in time for UCLA event)
After months (years) of negotations, the California legislature has passed what many are calling the most comprehensive California water legislation in half a century. The task was difficult: Figure out a way to fix our ailing Sacramento-San Joaquin delta; address shortfalls in water supply affecting urban, agricultural, and environmental interests; anticipate additional shortfalls and water supply difficulties related to climate change; and do all this in the midst ...
CONTINUE READINGThe Cost of Climate Change
According to Climate Wire, the Obama Administration is trying to come up with a reliable economic estimate of the cost of unchecked climate change. This sounds like a great idea but is actually full of pitfalls. Many of the individual elements of the economic impact analysis are the subjects of serious debate. For instance, economists hotly dispute the net effect of climate change on agriculture, with some finding an overall positive effect on U.S. agriculture (bu...
CONTINUE READINGDon’t diss local climate action
I can't let this one pass unremarked. Seth Jaffe, writing in the Boston law firm Foley Hoag's "Law and the Environment" blog, uses Portland Oregon's recent release of an updated draft Climate Action Plan as an occasion to criticize not only Portland (one of the few cities I actually like) but the whole concept of local climate planning and regulation. Jaffe sees local climate action as "a heavy thumb on the side of the scale arguing for comprehensive federal legislation....
CONTINUE READINGJournal watch
I've been catching up on some reading. Here are links to a few interesting recent journal articles. Thomas Dietz, Gerald T. Gardner, Jonathan Gilligan, Paul C. Stern, and Michael P. Vandenbergh, Household Actions Can Provide a Behavioral Wedge to Rapidly Reduce U.S. Carbon Emissions, 106 PNAS 18452 (Nov. 3, 2009). The authors, including Vanderbilt law professor Vandenbergh, who in earlier writings has emphasized the need for climate change policy to address indiv...
CONTINUE READINGIndia’s Prime Minister Slaps Down Attempts at New Climate Negotiating Policy
Well, so much for that: Faced with resistance from within and outside to his advocacy for a dramatic change of stand on climate change negotiations,environment minister Jairam Ramesh was in a damage control mode on Tuesday. The minister retraced his steps against the backdrop of clear signs that the country's climate negotiators, including Prime Minister's special envoy Shyam Saran and C Dasgupta, were unhappy with his controversial proposition. Dasgupta, a veteran of m...
CONTINUE READINGHot off the press at Ecology Law Quarterly
Ecology Law Quarterly has a new issue available online, featuring articles about global environmental law; standing; and NRDC v. Winter; as well as a review of Doremus and Tarlock on the Klamath Basin. Browse the ELQ website to see this issue, a preview of the next one, the latest from Ecology Law Currents, and more. Or go directly to the articles in this issue using the links below: The Emergence of Global Environmental Law, Tseming Yang and Robert V. Percival R...
CONTINUE READINGBad News on the Climate Bill
According to the Post, The climate-change bill that has been moving slowly through the Senate will face a stark political reality when it emerges for committee debate on Tuesday: With Democrats deeply divided on the issue, unless some Republican lawmakers risk the backlash for signing on to the legislation, there is almost no hope for passage. Let's hope that's not true. But if it is, we at least have state regulation and EPA regulation under the Clean Air Act to keep ...
CONTINUE READINGA red-letter day for washing machines
Under the Bush administration, which was implacably hostile to state environmental regulations exceeding federal minimum requirements, the Department of Energy refused to consider California's request for permission to issue state rules setting water efficiency standards for washing machines. The Ninth Circuit has now set aside that action as arbitrary and capricious, and ruled that DOE must reconsider California's request. That likely means that California's rules will ...
CONTINUE READINGThoughts About the Future of Nuclear Power
Apparently, substantially safer designs for nuclear reactors are now available. But the safe storage and disposal of nuclear waste is a significant challenge and a yet unresolved problem. Presently, waste is stored at over a hundred facilities across the country, within seventy-five miles of the homes of 161 million people. The major problem is the longevity of the waste – plutonium will be dangerous for 250,000 years. Although we may be able to model the geolog...
CONTINUE READINGThe Ghostly New Halloween Super-Villain
Warning: this thing will have more sequels than Friday the 13th! In fact, it will still be playing in your neighborhood theater for decades to come. ...
CONTINUE READING