A Muslim Attorney General
Not strictly speaking environmental, but I think of interest to Legal Planet's readers. Prime Minister Singh announced a few days ago that Goolam Vahanvati, one of the nation's most distinguished government lawyers, will become the nation's 13th Attorney General, for a term of 3 years. Significantly, he is the first Muslim to hold the position. In India, the AG does not run the Justice Department (or "Law and Justice Ministry," as it is referred to here): that is the j...
CONTINUE READINGHolding Our Breath for a Test Rule for Carbon Nanotubes
Researchers recently reported new findings regarding potential occupational hazards associated with carbon nanotubes. These nano-scale cylinders have a variety of forms (single-walled and multi-walled, coated and uncoated, and so on.) They are widely available and used in a variety of manufacturing, medical and electronic applications. Previously, much attention was focused on whether when inhaled, nanotubes could produce damage similar to that caused by asbestos. ...
CONTINUE READINGAn Open Letter to Climate Change Denialists
Dear Climate Deniers: From the point of view of the blog, it's good news that you have found us -- it means that we're reaching readers who are well outside our usual circle of friends and acquaintances. And we also welcome dissenting views, even when we think they're unfounded, so you folks are welcome to keep on posting comments. I continue to think that you're absolutely wrong -- about as wrong about climate change as Chamberlain was about Hitler's benign intentio...
CONTINUE READINGClimate change affecting the U.S.
The US Global Change Research Program has just issued a report on Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States. For people who have been paying attention, there's not much new here. But this report, authored by a team of distinguished scientists from inside and outside the government, endorsed by the White House (see this White House blog post), and including region-by-region details, should help spread the word to others. It is already increasing popular media co...
CONTINUE READINGThe end of the Exxon Valdez legal saga?
Rick earlier posted about the 20th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. This week, the Ninth Circuit may finally have brought the litigation that followed that spill to a close. You may recall that last year the U.S. Supreme Court heard Exxon's challenge to the punitive damages award against it, which had been set by the Ninth Circuit (after two remands to the trial court) at $2.5 billion. An equally divided Court upheld the Ninth Circuit's view that punitive dam...
CONTINUE READINGWhat Does the CBO Report on Waxman-Markey Actually Mean?
The Congressional Budget Office issued its report on the Waxman-Markey bill recently. The Washington Times immediately trumpeted: “CBO puts hefty price tag on emissions plan: Obama's cap-and-trade system seen costing $846 billion.” This is quite misleading. Actually, the CBO report tells us virtually nothing about the economic costs of the bill or how much consumers will be out of pocket. In fact, the way most people understand the idea of a budget deficit, it d...
CONTINUE READINGConfronting Uncertainty Under NEPA
Quantifying risks with confidence is often difficult. For the past thirty years, agencies and courts have struggled with the treatment of uncertainty in environmental impact statements. This problem is all the more important today. Climate change will require innovative solutions - new energy technologies, new adaptation strategies. These innovations will inevitably pose risks, often in the form of possible harm to human welfare or the environment. Climate change itself ...
CONTINUE READINGThe Supreme Court’s Love Affair with the Takings Clause–Not Over Just Yet
One of the biggest differences between the U.S. Supreme Court under former Chief Justice Rehnquist and the Court under current Chief Justice Roberts is the comparative interest in property rights and the Constitution's Takings Clause. From 1978 until Rehnquist's death in 2005, the Supreme Court heard one or more takings cases each Term--culminating in the "takings trifecta" of the Kelo, Lingle and San Remo Hotel decisions in 2005. Later that same year, John Roberts was...
CONTINUE READINGBreathless in Bombay Redux: Corruption and Environmental Law
As I mentioned a few days ago, Bombay has 55,000 taxicabs that all run on CNG. (And as I updated, the municipal buses do, too -- something else that India does better than the United States.). But Bombay's taxis present India-watchers and scholars with something of a problem: if you believe the standard story about India, this simply shouldn't be happening. Talk to anyone about governance in this country, and the first word you will hear will be "corruption." Indi...
CONTINUE READINGImportant New Climate Change Story
In a new and crucial climate change development, the Los Angeles Lakers have won their 15th World Championship. (For the northerners, that's 11 more than the Warriors and Kings combined.). Hooray! Now, all we need to do is figure out how to pay for the parade.......
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