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Is Romney Building Sand Castles Based on Fantasy Oil and Gas Production?

Romney plan relies heavily on a report from Citigroup. Even the Wall Street Journal was unsure about that report and said, “Whether the report proves prescient or just another starry-eyed fantasy remains to be seen.”

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How much of the grid can be renewable?

How far can we go in converting our power supply to renewable sources?  On June 15th, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory provided a partial answer when it released a “Renewable Energy Futures Study.”  The team undertaking this analysis was comprised of experts from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as well as from various national labs, …

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Emmett Center and NRDC Publish New Report on the Environmental, Energy, and Fiscal Benefits of Smart Roofs

My colleague and co-blogger Cara Horowitz has just published a new report on the potential benefits of adoption of “smart roofs” throughout Southern California.  Looking Up: How Green Roofs and Cool Roofs Can Reduce Energy Use, Address Climate Change, and Protect Water Resources in Southern California, co-authored with UCLA Law alumnus Noah Garrison of NRDC, …

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Sometimes People Really ARE Out to Get You

The Guardian has a rather startling story about organized efforts to stamp out wind and solar energy.  (I suppose the fact that I find it startling is an indication of my naiveté.)   Not too surprisingly, the Koch oil interests are a major funding sources. The Guardian lists some of the efforts to eliminate clean energy, …

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New Summary Report on California’s Law to Streamline Environmental Review of Infill Projects

As this blog has chronicled, California has undertaken some ambitious efforts to streamline environmental review for certain infill projects under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). One of the most recent and potentially far-reaching attempts, SB 226 (Simitian, 2011), creates an in-depth administrative process to define the standards for what constitutes a “good” infill project.  …

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Ninth Circuit upholds gray wolf rider

  As expected, the Ninth Circuit has now upheld the appropriations rider that directed the Fish and Wildlife Service to reissue its rule removing the gray wolf in Montana and Idaho from the list of endangered and threatened species. (Hat tip: Endangered Species Law and Policy blog.) The panel (all drawn from the Ninth Circuit’s …

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Rebound Redux

I’ve posted  previously about the rebound effect.  Improving energy efficiency frees up money, which can be used to purchase more of the same product or different products that use energy.  This “rebound” cuts away at the energy savings and correspondingly at the carbon reduction achieved through energy efficiency.  Everyone seems to agree that the rebound …

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Where does NOAA belong?

Cross-posted at CPRBlog. Clearly I need to slow down Rick’s internet connection to get him to stop scooping me. Rick reported earlier today that the President has floated a proposal to reorganize the Commerce Department and related agencies which would apparently include moving NOAA (all of NOAA, according to OMB’s Jeffrey Zeints, not just its …

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Guest blogger David Pettit: In the Weeds with GHGs

This post, by David Pettit of the Natural Resources Defense Council, is part of an occasional series by guest bloggers. As Ann Carlson and Rick Frank have previously blogged, on December 29th 2011, U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill ruled that California’s low carbon fuel standard (LCFS) violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. …

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U.C. Davis’ “CEQA at 40” Conference Now Available Online

On November 4th, the U.C. Davis School of Law’s California Environmental Law & Policy Center hosted “CEQA at 40: A Look Back & Ahead.”  Celebrating the 40th anniversary of California’s bedrock environmental law, the California Environmental Quality Act, the conference drew some 400 attendees to U.C. Davis, with many more viewing the proceedings via a …

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