Region: National
Going Nuclear?
Nuclear has some serious problems, but it may be worth hedging our technology bets.
Nuclear power has been an important source of zero-carbon energy, though it has been plagued by other problems. Does it have a future in our effort to decarbonize the grid? According to the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), a third of U.S. nuclear plants, or about twenty percent of the nation’s total nuclear capacity, are …
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CONTINUE READINGSixth International Geoengineering Governance Summer School, 2019
A brief report from a recent Emmett-convened event
As the severity of climate change risks and the inability of current efforts to adequately limit risks become clear, geoengineering technologies – active large-scale environmental interventions to reduce disruptions caused by elevated greenhouse gases – are increasingly receiving attention and generating controversy. These proposals would either remove and sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide or modify the …
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CONTINUE READINGAnother Court Loss for the Trump EPA
D.C. Circuit enforces deadlines for air pollution compliance
On Friday, the D.C. Circuit issued a brief order in a case called New York v. EPA. In some respects, the order was a foregone conclusion, given the same court’s September ruling in a case called Wisconsin v. EPA. But it’s nonetheless noteworthy. Both the New York and the Wisconsin case involved a section in …
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CONTINUE READINGLet Discovery Begin!
Unless the Supreme Court intervenes, discovery can begin in the Baltimore climate nuisance case
The oil companies that have fought cities around the country that have filed climate change nuisance cases against them may finally have to tell plaintiffs’ lawyers about what they knew about the connection between climate change and their business activities, when they knew it, and what they did in response. The Fourth Circuit Court of …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Pro-Environmental Lochner Court
How a conservative Court defended environmental protection a century ago.
Like today’s Court, the Supreme Court a century ago was dominated by conservatives. The Lochner era, from around 1900 to 1935, was named after the most notorious case of that period. The Lochner case, which struck down a maximum hours law for workers, epitomized the conservative Supreme Court of that era. Yet that conservative Court …
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CONTINUE READINGThe filibuster and climate change legislation
Should we eliminate the Senate filibuster to advance climate change legislation
As the Democratic Presidential primary season has unfolded, a number of the candidates have argued for eliminating the filibuster in the Senate completely. (It is currently gone for confirmation of nominations of judges and executive branch officials, but remains for substantive legislation.) So has former Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. One of the key …
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CONTINUE READINGWhy are automakers fighting Trump’s emissions rollback?
The answer may lie in the electric vehicle investments the industry is busy making
As we move ever deeper into an all-out legal war between California and the Trump Administration over rollbacks of automobile emissions standards (something Ann, Cara, and Julia have been covering very well), I want to explore in a little more depth why the automakers have been so resistant to Trump’s rollback efforts. The auto industry …
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CONTINUE READINGDefending the Environment, Deep in the Heart of Dixie
It’s not hospitable territory for environmental work, but some law schools are still trying.
National environmental groups tend not to devote many resources to the Deep South. State governments and often courts are barren ground for environmental arguments. And.the local activist community is also thin. Law schools are also fewer in number than in the Northeast or Pacific Coasts. So what’s going on in those schools in the environmental …
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CONTINUE READINGWelcome to the Next Phase of the Great California-Trump Car Wars
First lawsuit filed, more to come
California didn’t wait long to file its first court challenge to the rules just finalized by the Trump Administration related to California’s GHG and ZEV car emissions standards (discussed here and here by Julia and Ann). Here’s the complaint filed by California together with 23 other states, along with the cities of LA and NY. …
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CONTINUE READINGEPA/Transportation Announcement of California Waiver Revocation is Full of Falsehoods and Irony
How Many Misstatements Can You Find?
This morning, the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Transportation formally announced — as expected — that the Trump Administration is revoking California’s waiver to set its own vehicle standards. Yesterday, Trump tweeted the news, coupling it with falsehoods claiming that the rollback would save lives and save consumers money. As I blogged yesterday, both …
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