A Beautiful Day for Bumblefish?
A California court just ruled that bumblebees are fish. It’s not as crazy as it sounds.
A California appeals court ruled last week that bumblebees are fish and are therefore protected by the California Endangered Species Act (CESA). That may sound ridiculous, but there's actually a convoluted legal argument to support the court. That argument does justify giving the CESA some extra coverage beyond what we would ordinarily classify as fish. Making the statute stretch far enough to cover bumblebees, however, is a bit too much. The CESA explicitly covers...
CONTINUE READINGAdvancing renewables through electricity restructuring
Reducing barriers to siting new electricity generation can help advance renewable energy production
Our electricity system will be crucial to decarbonization efforts, both because much of our current energy comes from electricity, and because decarbonizing sectors like transportation will require significant electrification. And electricity is the sector where we have had the most success in decarbonization so far in the United States. But there is still more to do. And in an increasingly polarized country, direct policy efforts to decarbonize our electricity sy...
CONTINUE READINGProtecting the federal estate
Understanding the Property Clause's location in Article IV clarifies the power of Congress and the federal government to protect public lands
In my previous blog post, I discussed how the location of the Property Clause in Article IV can help answer key debates about congressional versus executive power under the Clause, as well as federal versus state power under the Clause. Here I want to draw on the principles I developed in the prior blog post: the role of the Clause in resolving interstate disputes and advancing horizontal federalism, and the relative primacy of congressional versus executive power unde...
CONTINUE READINGTaking Article IV Seriously
How “horizontal federalism” can help us understand federal power over the public lands
Can the President unilaterally end fossil fuel leasing on federal lands? Or does this policy decision require Congressional intervention? Can the President unilaterally terminate existing National Monuments that protect federal public lands from development? Or does this policy decision also require Congressional intervention? Does federal law preempt state law on federal lands? Or does the Constitution require the transfer of all federal lands to a state when ...
CONTINUE READINGOur Common Ground
New book on history of federal public lands is an essential contribution
America’s public lands are a national, and even international, treasure. Over a quarter of the United States is owned and managed by the federal government. Public lands provide recreational opportunities for all Americans. They provide valuable habitat for species and ecosystems. They provide important natural resources, such as timber and minerals, that are both important for local economies, and for national industrial policy. (For instance, federal public...
CONTINUE READINGRemembering Dale Goble
“Father of Wildlife Law” passed away this spring
Dale Goble, professor of law at University of Idaho, passed this April. There are numerous excellent tributes to Dale’s life, available here, here, and here. As a co-author of Dale’s on our Wildlife Law casebook, I wanted to add my personal recognition of his life and work. When I first started teaching law over 15 years ago, one of my first courses was a Biodiversity Law class. Protection of biodiversity is what prodded me to going to law school, and to wor...
CONTINUE READINGSubnational Climate Action in the UK
As in the U.S., it’s not all about the national government. Not by any means.
Last week, I posted about the British government’s climate policy. In sharp contrast with their American counterparts, British conservatives remain firmly behind the Paris Agreement and supportive of cap-and-trade. In another respect, though, there’s more similarity: in both countries, subnational governments play a key role in climate policy. Here’s what’s happening across Great Britain. Regional governments. Although ultimate power remains in the national Par...
CONTINUE READINGWhen is a bee a fish?
The California Court of Appeal finds that invertebrates can be protected under the California Endangered Species Act
That was the question before the Third District of the California Court of Appeal. The California Fish and Game Commission had accepted petitions to list four species of native California bees for protection under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA). A group of agricultural trade associations challenged the decision as exceeding the Commission’s authority under CESA, on the grounds that terrestrial invertebrates are not covered by CESA. The...
CONTINUE READINGDesalination: An Essential Part of California’s Water Future
Coastal Commission's Recent Rejection of Huntington Beach Desalination Project Misguided
Let me begin this commentary with a disclaimer: I was an early and strong proponent of Proposition 20, the successful 1972 California voter initiative measure that enacted the Coastal Act and created the California Coastal Commission (albeit temporarily). I supported with equal enthusiasm the state Legislature's 1976 enactment of legislation making both the Coastal Act and the Commission permanent. For the past 50 years I've similarly advocated for robust impl...
CONTINUE READINGWar and the Environment: Ukraine in 2022
The environment is also a victim of the Russian invasion -- perhaps to the point of being a war crime.
Memorial Day began as a day to commemorate the Civil War dead, then became a day to commemorate the dead from many wars. But war's toll goes beyond direct harm to humans. The environment also suffers. On top of its human tragedies, the Russian invasion of Ukraine is also wreaking environmental havoc. One source of concern involves destruction of industrial plants. Ukraine has many chemical plants and storage facilities, some of which have already been hit. Even ...
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