Hot Links to Cool Sites
The platform for this blog limits the number of links that we can list in the left margin. Here are some blogs that cover environmental issues in a significant way: SF Green -- the San Francisco Chronicle's blog on environmental and energy issues in the Bay Area. RealClimate -- an excellent source for reliable information on climate science. Center for Progressive Reform -- the environmentalist viewpoint on regulatory issues. In addition, some of the leading legal ...
CONTINUE READINGMore on climate change and water management
I posted last week about the Secure Water provision of S 22, the Omnibus Public Lands bill that has passed the Senate, which would mandate federal planning for the effects of climate change on water resources. Federal water agencies are already looking at how water planning needs to adapt to climate change. The US Geological Survey, Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation, and NOAA have issued a new interagency publication, Climate Change and Water Resources Managemen...
CONTINUE READINGRalph’s Pretty Good Stimulus: A Missed Opportunity
A Prairie Home Companion is sponsored by, among others, Ralph's Pretty Good Grocery: "If you can't find it at Ralph's, you can probably get along without it."That's my initial and preliminary take on some of the energy and transportation provisions of the stimulus, although a lot that isn't in there we probably can't get along without, like a real commitment to energy efficiency and transit. In all, it seems to me that this is okay, but really a missed opportunity: o...
CONTINUE READINGA Victory for the California Team
AP reports that: The Export-Import Bank of the United States and the Overseas Private Investment Corp. agreed to provide a combined $500 million in financing for renewable energy projects and take into account greenhouse gas emissions associated with projects they support. The lawsuit was originally filed in San Francisco federal court in 2002 by Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and four cities that claimed they would suffer environmental and economic damage from global ...
CONTINUE READINGCan NEPA save the world?
New Scientist's blog, Short Sharp Science, reports that repairs on the proton-smashing Large Hadron Collider at Europe's CERN may be complete by September. What's the environmental law connection? You might recall that before the LHC was briefly fired up in September 2008 (it only worked for 9 days before crashing), a lawsuit was filed in the federal district court in Hawaii to block it. The claim? That an EIS was required under NEPA because the United States had cont...
CONTINUE READINGThe Bush Legacy
The New York Times has a story this morning that tries to summarize Bush's environmental legacy. As the story points out, there are positive notes, like the diesel regulations and the last-minute designation of marine sanctuaries. Yet, the overall message is negative. The Bush Administration will largely be remembered as a time of environmental setbacks and lost opportunities. One such wasted opportunity came early in the Bush Administration, when we seemed to b...
CONTINUE READINGDelay on marine engines upheld
In the latest round in a long-running battle, the D.C. Circuit has upheld EPA's foot-dragging on regulation of emissions from large marine diesel engines against a challenge brought by the South Coast Air Quality Management District, Santa Barbara Air Pollution Control District, and Friends of the Earth. Large ships are major sources of air pollution along the Southern California coast. According to Santa Barbara APCD officials, marine shipping is currently responsib...
CONTINUE READINGMore on OMB and Regulatory Policy
President Obama wants a new executive order on OMB oversight of regulation. He has issued the following directive: I therefore direct the Director of OMB, in consultation with representatives of regulatory agencies, as appropriate, to produce within 100 days a set of recommendations for a new Executive Order on Federal regulatory review. Among other things, the recommendations should offer suggestions for the relationship between OIRA nd the agencies; provide guidance ...
CONTINUE READINGHow Smart Can You Get?
It is said that it cost $3 million to air a 30 second advertisement during last weekend's Superbowl. If that is the case, then General Electric chose to spend that much (plus change for production cost) to run a cute little musical piece based on the Scarecrow's song from the Wizard of Oz -- "If I Only Had a Brain". It was 70 years ago that everyone's favorite Judy Garland film hit the theaters, but GE wasn't just offering us a nostalgic interlude between play-action pa...
CONTINUE READINGAre Law Professors Good Political Appointees?
I just got off the phone with a Bloomberg News reporter asking me about Harvard Law Professor Jody Freeman's appointment as counselor to Carol Browner. After singing Jody's' praises (of which there are a great many) he asked me a more general question that has me thinking. Is it a good thing for Obama to appoint law professors as high level advisors? The question -- at least in my mind -- is meant to be about the generic category of law professor, not about a...
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