Region: International
The Public Trust Doctrine: A Prophet Without Honor
Michael C. Blumm and R.D. Guthrie of Lewis & Clark Law School have an interesting new paper soon to appear in the U.C. Davis Law Review, pointing out that the public trust doctrine has assumed enormous significance in the jurisprudence of several countries around the world, including India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Uganda, Kenya, South …
Continue reading “The Public Trust Doctrine: A Prophet Without Honor”
CONTINUE READINGHuman Rights and Climate Change
The connection between climate change and human rights is beginning to get fuller attention. The Cancun Agreements (FCCC/AWGLCA/2010/L.7, paras 93-4) call for submissions on “a forum on the impact of the implementation of response measures.” On behalf of Berkeley’s International Human Rights Law Clinic, Zoe Loftus-Farren and Cáitrín McKiernan have offered a submission, suggesting that …
Continue reading “Human Rights and Climate Change”
CONTINUE READINGEnergy and Development
Readers of this blog may be interested in a new blog by my ERG colleague Dan Kammen. Dan is currently on leave from Berkeley to head the Clean Tech effort at the World Bank as the Bank’s Chief Technical Specialist for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency. Recent subjects range from cook stoves in Africa to …
Continue reading “Energy and Development”
CONTINUE READINGWill Bombay Choke the Queen’s Necklace?
Marine Drive in Bombay, better known as the Queen’s Necklace (pictured), is one of the most beautiful waterfronts in the world. That’s why it is so depressing to learn that the Maharahstra state government seems to want to destroy it. Per DNA India, the state’s chief minister, Prithviraj Chavan, is meeting with Union Environment Minister Jairam …
Continue reading “Will Bombay Choke the Queen’s Necklace?”
CONTINUE READINGThe Dying Dead
Can something that’s Dead still be dying? It can if it’s the Dead Sea and if it’s rapidly disappearing. And it is. Check out this piece from this month’s Scientific American, which details the disappearance of the Dead Sea — which is really a highly saline lake — due to four states (Israel, Jordan, Syria, …
Continue reading “The Dying Dead”
CONTINUE READINGEnvironmental Justice and Adaptation to Climate Change
I’m beginning to wonder whether we need an “Endangered People Act” to ensure that the most vulnerable get the protection they need from climate change impacts. Climate change will disproportionately affect vulnerable individuals and poorer regions and countries, as I discuss in a recent paper comparing adaptation efforts in China, England, and the U.S. For …
Continue reading “Environmental Justice and Adaptation to Climate Change”
CONTINUE READINGClimate Adaptation Across the Pond
In the U.K., climate adaptation is mandated by statute, with primary responsibility in a single government agency and specific implementation requirements for local authorities. In the U.S., we can only envy the extent to which even the current Conservative government is taking the issue of climate change seriously. A 2005 Climate Change Programme report helpfully …
Continue reading “Climate Adaptation Across the Pond”
CONTINUE READINGJapan: Growing Nuclear Problems
More trouble, according to the Washington Post: All but about 50 workers were evacuated from the plant, where at least three reactor cores are believed to be imperiled, and Prime Minister Naoto Kan hailed those who remained, saying they “are putting themselves in a very dangerous situation.” Explosions destroyed the tops of two buildings housing …
Continue reading “Japan: Growing Nuclear Problems”
CONTINUE READINGJapan’s Nuclear Reactors, Risk Assessment & Accident Theory
In the wake of Japan’s developing nuclear crisis, people have begun questioning the future of US nuclear policy. Here is Sen. Lieberman, cautiously arguing for a review of nuclear power safety: I think it calls on us here in the U.S., naturally, not to stop building nuclear power plants but to put the brakes on …
Continue reading “Japan’s Nuclear Reactors, Risk Assessment & Accident Theory”
CONTINUE READINGToday in Japan
According to CNN, in addition to the loss of life (now confirmed at over 15oo but likely to rise considerably), the economic costs are huge: Losses from the quake, tsunami and fires will total at least $100 billion, including $20 billion in damage to residences and $40 billion in damage to infrastructure such as roads, …
Continue reading “Today in Japan”
CONTINUE READING