Climate Change Archives - Page 13 of 109

Climate Change

The Supreme Court Curbs Climate Action

The ruling in West Virginia v. EPA was about as good as we could expect given the makeup of the Court.

Today, the Supreme Court decided its most important environmental case since 2007. We didn’t dodge the bullet. It’s more than a flesh wound but it didn’t hit any vital organs . Chief Justice Roberts’s majority opinion leaves EPA other options to reduce carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants. It also gives a fairly narrow reading …

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Climate Policy in India

What’s Happening in the World’s Second Largest Country?

India is home to 1.39 billion people, just below China but growing faster. By some projections, it will have the second largest economy in the world by 2050. In terms of climate policy, however, it doesn’t get nearly as much attention as China. That’s understandable in terms of India’s current carbon emissions, which are now …

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Whose Interests Count? And How Much?

Whether to consider harms to foreign countries and future generations is controversial. So is how much weight to give harm to the poor.

Should regulators take into account harm to people in other countries? What about harm to future generations? Should we give special attention when the disadvantaged are harmed? These questions are central to climate policy and some other important environmental issues. I’ll use cost-benefit analysis as a framework for discussing these issues. You probably don’t need …

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An Abundance Research Agenda

If we need to build lots of things fast to address climate and housing crises, how will we do that?

There’s been a lot of buzz about this column by Ezra Klein in the New York Times. Klein’s basic argument: We need to do a lot of infrastructure and other development projects to make the world a better place. For example, we’ll need to build power lines and renewable projects to address climate change. But …

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Desalination: 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 …

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After the Court Rules: Gaming out Responses to a Cutback in EPA Authority

The Supreme Court is almost certain to cut back on EPA’s power to regulate greenhouse gases. What then?

In West Virginia v. EPA, the Supreme Court is reviewing Obama’s Clean Power Plan. The Clean Power Plan (CPP) itself no longer has any practical relevance, but there’s every reason to predict the Court will strike it down anyway. The ruling will also restrict EPA’s future options. The big question is what the Biden Administration …

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Good News from “Down Under”

Australia’s election signals a welcome change in climate policy.

Australia has had a change of government. The Liberal Party — conservative in everything but name — lost control of the federal government to Labor. Australia was recently ranked last out of sixty countries in climate policy.The victorious Labor candidate told his supporters, “Together we can end the climate wars. Together we can take advantage of …

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My Kind of Town

Climate change is coming to Chicago and Lake Michigan.

“My kind of town, Chicago is my kind of town.” Or so Frank Sinatra sang. I’m not sure he really felt that way himself, but the song rings a chord with me. I didn’t grow up in Chicago but we visited frequently to see my parents’ families. Chicago is also, as it turns out, ground …

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Taking the Court’s Temperature on Global Warming

A case on the shadow docket may shed light on the Court’s direction.

Court watchers and environmentalists are waiting with bated breath for the Supreme Court to rule on West Virginia v. EPA, the Court’s most important climate change case in a generation. The issue in that case is what, if anything, EPA can do to regulate carbon emissions from power plants and factories. Yesterday, conservative states asked …

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Risky Business

Climate Change and the Insurance Sector

Founded in 1871, the National Association of Insurance Commission represents insurance regulators in all fifty states. It’s not a particularly woke group – the current president is the Director of the Idaho Department of Insurance. However, the group has just issued a new “voluntary” survey for insurance companies about climate risks. “Voluntary” is in quotes …

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Climate policy is changing rapidly. Stay in the loop with expert analysis via email Monday - Friday.

Congress Lacks Authority to Review California’s Car Waiver

It’s a complicated issue but the answer is clear: the Congressional Review Act does not apply.

Trump’s Seven Most Anti-Environmental Moves — and How to Push Back

There were dozens of actions, all harmful to the environment. These are the worst of the worst.

Tracking the Trump Administration

Rollbacks of Climate, Energy, and Environmental Policies and Investments

What is Life Like Inside Trump’s EPA?

Three EPA employees talk about DOGE, work anxiety, regulatory rollbacks, and the impact on protecting health and the environment.

Why Isn’t Hydrofluoric Acid Banned at Oil Refineries?

The Torrance Refinery Action Alliance and Rep. Maxine Waters have renewed calls to ban hydrofluoric acid at SoCal refineries. Here’s why and how that could work.

Climate Change

The ruling in West Virginia v. EPA was about as good as we could expect given the makeup of the Court.

What’s Happening in the World’s Second Largest Country?

Whether to consider harms to foreign countries and future generations is controversial. So is how much weight to give harm to the poor.

If we need to build lots of things fast to address climate and housing crises, how will we do that?

Coastal Commission’s Recent Rejection of Huntington Beach Desalination Project Misguided

The Supreme Court is almost certain to cut back on EPA’s power to regulate greenhouse gases. What then?

Australia’s election signals a welcome change in climate policy.

Climate change is coming to Chicago and Lake Michigan.

A case on the shadow docket may shed light on the Court’s direction.

Climate Change and the Insurance Sector

Join Our Mailing List

Climate policy is changing rapidly. Stay in the loop with expert analysis via email Monday - Friday.

TRENDING

EPA has identified four different arguments against the endangerment finding. None have merit.

With nations lagging behind on climate, states and provinces are coming up with investment opportunities to protect forests and ecosystems internationally.

The Current Overheated Housing Market in Los Angeles Demonstrates That Market-Rate Housing Can Reduce Rents

Three EPA employees talk about DOGE, work anxiety, regulatory rollbacks, and the impact on protecting health and the environment.

The acclaimed science fiction author says at a UCLA talk that Trump’s attack on science is “a murder suicide” that won’t work because “you cannot kill the future.”

New CLEE report explores the risks of federal preemption.

Congress was aware that there could be a backlash against environmental standards. It took precautions.

Just as a past dictator rejected modern genetics, Trump rejects climate science. For both, evidence was no match for ideology and ego.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has launched a full-scale attack on climate, air and water pollution.

Thousands of people rallied at more than 100 Stand Up for Science events from Missouri to France. Where will the movement go from here?

It’s a complicated issue but the answer is clear: the Congressional Review Act does not apply.

There were dozens of actions, all harmful to the environment. These are the worst of the worst.

Rollbacks of Climate, Energy, and Environmental Policies and Investments

Three EPA employees talk about DOGE, work anxiety, regulatory rollbacks, and the impact on protecting health and the environment.

The Torrance Refinery Action Alliance and Rep. Maxine Waters have renewed calls to ban hydrofluoric acid at SoCal refineries. Here’s why and how that could work.

Don’t let the headlines deceive you. It’s not just the Supreme Court that shapes environmental law.

Private recycling subscription services are helping my family divert our waste, though I wish we didn’t need them.

Analysis of causation under NEPA should be driven by the statute’s purpose of informed decisionmaking.

A pair of new bills introduced in the California State Legislature would create a climate superfund. Here’s how it would work.

It’s easy to make something seem big or small, depending on how you present the numbers.