Climate Change
Climate of Opinion
What do Americans think about climate change and environmental regulation?
Public opinion has been moving toward greater acceptance of the realities of climate change and the need for action. According to an April report by the Pew Charitable Trust, over half of Americans think the environment should be a priority for the next President, and over forty percent say that for climate change. Both figures …
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CONTINUE READINGThe World’s Looming Water Crisis
Climate Change Worsens Chronic Water Shortages for One-Quarter of Earth’s Population
The World Resources Institute recently released a disturbing report chronicling increased, dire water shortages around the globe that threaten millions of the earth’s inhabitants. Climate change is a major contributing factor. Public health crises, social unrest and global political conflicts are the inevitable consequences if the problem is not addressed successfully–and soon. “17 Countries, Home …
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CONTINUE READINGHelter Skelter
Even for deregulators, the latest rollback makes no sense.
The Washington Post reported this morning that EPA is getting ready to roll back yet another Obama Administration climate regulation — this time, one regulating natural gas leaks. I wanted to add a brief postscript to Ken Alex’s post on this. What struck me most immediately was the sheer economic weirdness of making this rollback …
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CONTINUE READINGConference on the Ocean’s Role in Sustainable Food Production
U.C. Davis Will Host Cutting-Edge Event on September 16-17, 2019
U.C. Davis’ Coastal and Marine Sciences Institute, in conjunction with the UCD School of Law’s California Environmental Law & Policy Center, will host an important and timely conference on September 16-17, 2019. “The Ocean’s Role in Sustainable Food Production” will offer an in-depth, interdisciplinary look at current scientific, economic, social, legal and governance issues surrounding …
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CONTINUE READINGFor the Love of Carbon
Understanding Trump’s Drive to Ramp Up Carbon Emissions
Libertarians may oppose government regulation on principle, and to some extent that stance explains the Trump Administration’s environmental and energy policies. But the Trump Administration clearly views the fossil fuel sector as something more than another overly-regulated industry. Instead, expansion of this particular industry is seen as something good in itself. Thus, the Administration not …
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CONTINUE READINGPrinciples of Climate Governance
We need to address the procedures and structures for climate policymaking.
There’s a lot of discussion about the substance of climate policy today. That’s obviously critical, but we also need to think about the procedural and institutional issues involved in making climate policy. For instance, we need to think about how to divide authority between the states and the federal government. I thought it would be …
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CONTINUE READINGPerfection – Public Enemy Number One, or Straw Man?
We don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Is that always a good thing?
“Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.” How many times do you think you have heard that phrase? Many people attribute the concept to Voltaire, so as advice goes, how bad could it be? It’s darn good advice in many situations – such as selecting a checkout line to stand in at …
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CONTINUE READINGACE or Joker? Trump’s Self-Defeating Climate Rule
The ACE rule adds costs, achieves little, and disempowers the states. Nice job.
The Trump ACE rule violates all the Administration’s own deregulatory principles.To hear Trump talk, the point of deregulation is to reduce the burden of regulation on industry. But weirdly enough, that doesn’t turn out to be true of Trump’s effort to repeal Obama’s Clean Power Plan (CPP) and replace it with his own Affordable Clean …
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CONTINUE READINGWarren’s public lands policy proposal
The Senator’s policy proposals have a lot of good points, but could be even better
Senator Elizabeth Warren has become famous for her policy plan documents as she runs for President. A few months ago, she released a new one focusing on public lands. The key points in her plan include: A moratorium on all new fossil fuel leasing on federal public lands Providing 10% of US renewable energy from …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Democratic Presidential Candidates Should Debate How to Address Climate Change
The DNC Can Help to Make Climate Change Into an Issue of Consequence for the Campaign
This is my first post in my new role at the UC Berkeley Center for Law, Energy, and Environment, working on Project Climate. Last year, as a Legal Planet guest blogger, I wrote that political will and scale are the two biggest challenges of climate change response. So for this first post, I want to …
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