National park futility in Kenya
Parks don't guarantee conservation success, a new study by David Western and colleagues in PLoS ONE reminds us. Compiling census data from 270 studies over the last 25 years, they found that large mammal populations in Kenya are declining just as rapidly within national parks as in other parts of the country. Poaching, the authors say, is not likely to account for the declines, because Kenya's parks have high quality security services. But the parks are poorly designed...
CONTINUE READINGPolar bear fact and fantasy
There was an interesting juxtaposition of news about the polar bear recently, one that illustrates the divide between working research scientists trying to grapple with the impacts of global warming and the skeptics who insist that climate change either is not occurring or is not a problem. The Polar Bear Specialist Group, launched in the 1960s by the IUCN, met last week in Copenhagen. The Group currently has 19 members, all research scientists from the five arctic na...
CONTINUE READINGEdith Jones Declares War on America’s Coastline
Edith Jones, the 5th Circuit Chief Judge who makes wingnuts swoon, is at it again, this time in Severance v. Patterson, a Takings test case brought by the Pacific Legal Foundation. For environmentalists, Severance is also a test case in who is going to have to pay for coastal damage from climate change. Edith Jones answer is that you are, in order to protect landowners along the coast who purchased property knowing of the danger. Quite literally, the decision contai...
CONTINUE READINGForecasting climate votes in the Senate
Nate Silver, the statistician who gained prominence in the last election cycle with his predictions for the presidential race, has modeled the prospects of the Waxman-Markey climate bill in the Senate. The analysis is necessarily based on a number of assumptions, such as that the bill doesn't change in its progress to the Senate floor. So its an artificial exercise, but an interesting one. Silver's model finds 51 votes with a reasonably high probability (75% or higher) ...
CONTINUE READINGNAFTA gold mining opinion upholding California environmental regulation issued by arbitration tribunal
As I previously discussed in detail in this post, a NAFTA arbitration tribunal recently decided a closely-watched case in a way that will further environmental protection. The panel's 355-page opinion in the Glamis Gold case has been made public: here it is. The panel decided in favor of California's right to regulate in-state mining by foreign companies without having to compensate them for the negative economic impacts of that regulation. A Canadian mining compa...
CONTINUE READINGArmy Corps finds environmental humor unfunny: Conan O’Brien and Los Angeles River navigability
As Holly has mentioned, last month, Conan O'Brien made humor out of the navigability of the Los Angeles River by attempting to canoe down it. Holly's post describes the legal controversy over the "traditional navigable waters" determination for the L.A. River, an appeal of which is still pending. (I note that there's a small error in Holly's post: the Army Corps decision she links to isn't the final one by the Army Corps, and in its final determination the Corps actu...
CONTINUE READINGRecommended Books
Check out our new page of book recommendations! We have everything from classics like Silent Spring to biographies to legal tomes. You can order a book just by clicking on its image. Don't be shy about letting us know if there are other books we should include. ...
CONTINUE READINGThe Light Bulb Goes On!
From the New York Times: When Congress passed a new energy law two years ago, obituaries were written for the incandescent light bulb. The law set tough efficiency standards, due to take effect in 2012, that no traditional incandescent bulb on the market could meet, and a century-old technology that helped create the modern world seemed to be doomed. But as it turns out, the obituaries were premature. Researchers across the country have been racing to breathe new life...
CONTINUE READINGDebating the Economics of Climate Change
A blog with the great title of Greed, Green and Grains (by environmental economist Michael J. Roberts) reported an interesting national bureau of economic research debate on the economics of climate change. The debaters were Pindyck (MIT) and Weitzman (Harvard). It seems increasingly clear that the key factors driving economic conclusions are the treatment of discounting and uncertainty -- how much do we care about the world after this century and how averse are we t...
CONTINUE READINGPlastic Trees Revisited
Thirty-five years ago, Larry Tribe wrote an article called "Ways Not to Think About Plastic Trees," probing the foundations of environmental law. The article prompted an equally interesting response from environmental philosoper Mark Sagoff. The issue was whether we should preserve nature simply for its utility to humans or whether it had other types of value. Plastic trees now seem to be making a revival, according to a recent report, again prompting the question...
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