Global Hotspots and the Environment
I recently noted the role of environmental woes in North Korea's current situation. The Middle East also faces serious environmental problems, as a recent TNR posting discusses: Does the world really need more headaches in the Middle East? No, of course not, but rising global temperatures are likely to create a few more regardless. According to a new report from the Institute for Sustainable Development, the Levant is currently on pace to get hotter and drier in the ne...
CONTINUE READINGCoeur Alaska–A Shifting Legal Position by the Obama Administration?
As the U.S. Supreme Court Term winds down, only one environmental case on the Court's docket remains undecided: Coeur Alaska v. Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, No. 07-984. That case, which involves the relationship between the Clean Water Act's water pollution control (NPDES) and its wetlands dredge-and-fill programs, arises in the context of a proposed gold mine operation in Alaska. That mining project would use --and essentially destroy--an Alaskan lake by t...
CONTINUE READINGDrowning the East Coast
According to WaPo, Sea levels could rise faster along the U.S. East Coast than in any other densely populated part of the world, new research shows, as changes in ice caps and ocean currents push water toward a shoreline inlaid with cities, resort boardwalks and gem-rare habitats. Three studies this year, including one out last week, have made newly worrisome forecasts about life along the Atlantic over the next century. While the rest of the world might see seven to 2...
CONTINUE READINGBiofuels Could Be Good for Your Health (Especially If You Live in New York, Chicago, or L.A.)
A recent study at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab indicates that biofuels may have health benefits: Although there are a number of uncertainties that must be addressed for a more accurate picture, these early results show that a biofuel eliminating even 10-percent of current gasoline pollutant emissions would have a substantial impact on human health in this country, especially in urban areas. In particular: “We found that for the vehicle operation phase of our LCIA [l...
CONTINUE READINGThe other fish drops on the Delta
NMFS has issued its long-awaited revised biological opinion on the effects of operation of the Central Valley and State Water Projects on species under its supervision. The entire opinion is available here, and the NMFS press release is here. The opinion concludes that current project operations jeopardize the survival of "winter and spring-run Chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, the southern population of North American green sturgeon and Southern Resident kille...
CONTINUE READINGIndia’s New Government and Climate Change: Good News, Bad News
The Congress Party's unexpected strong victory in the 2009 elections has also brought one of the strongest Cabinets in recent times. For those interested in the upcoming climate talks, however, it also presents some challenges. At the end of the day, climate policy will not be a focus of the government, but there are some important silver linings. None of the biggest Cabinet players seem to be what climate activists would like. But there appears to be significant...
CONTINUE READINGPassage to India
Just arrived in Hyderabad, India, for the RAND/India School of Business conference on entrepreneurship. After that, I make my way west to Bombay, and then north to Delhi, where on June 19th, the new Jindal Global Law School will sponsor a major conference on climate. It's (sometimes) nice going to conferences, but I am also hoping to find out more about productive ways to engage India on the climate issue. Like virtually all developing countries, New Delhi has fi...
CONTINUE READINGRegulatory Fees in California: Killing Two Birds with One Stone?
The meltdown of the State of California’s budget raises a host of questions about governance, taxes and politics in the state and beyond. One of those questions implicates other concerns regarding the design and implementation of effective environmental regulation. As my father used to say, “Sometimes cheap is too expensive,” an adage that is borne out by the results of regulation on the cheap. California legislators add more and more regulatory initiatives t...
CONTINUE READINGThe China Syndrome
After her trip to China, Speaker Pelosi was upbeat about the Chinese attitude toward climate change, YahooGreen reports: US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday expressed high hopes of cooperation between the United State and China, the two biggest emitters of greenhouse gases, ahead of key climate change talks. "We did see that the Chinese government knows that they have to do something," Pelosi told a news conference on the heels of a weeklong trip to China with other...
CONTINUE READINGHummer to China
At the close of last week's Congressional delegation trip to China to discuss, among other things, climate change commitments, Rep. Edward Markey had this to say about the upcoming Copenhagen talks and efforts to convince the Chinese to agree to GHG caps (as reported in the NYT): "This is going to be one of the most complex diplomatic negotiations in the history of the world." Not encouraging words. Today comes news that a Chinese manufacturer is buying Hummer from...
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