Climate Change
The New IPCC Assessment, Carbon Budgets and the Role of the U.S.
National Academy Study Used the Carbon Budget Approach Taken in New IPCC Report to Show How the U.S. Could Limit Emissions
Today’s major environmental news is, of course, the release of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 5th Assessment Report addressing the physical science basis for climate change. The findings are strong and alarming: warming of the climate system is unequivocal and unprecedented; atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions “have increased to …
Continue reading “The New IPCC Assessment, Carbon Budgets and the Role of the U.S.”
CONTINUE READINGToday’s House Subcommittee Hearing on Climate Change
President Obama’s recent announcement on climate change irritated some in Congress—but we didn’t need a hearing to find that out.
Today, Republican leaders in the House Energy and Power Subcommittee called a hearing to discuss climate change. Has the Right suddenly taken an interest in responding to climate change? As you might anticipate, the answer is no. The hearing, entitled “The Obama Administration’s Climate Change Policies and Activities,” focused on attacks to the President’s Climate …
Continue reading “Today’s House Subcommittee Hearing on Climate Change”
CONTINUE READINGWhy coal cares about FERC
I’ve written before about how fossil fuel industries have a strong incentive to kill (or at least stop the rise of) renewable energy now, so that it doesn’t become a powerful political force. If renewable energy does become a strong enough political force, then there is a risk that it might provide support for ending …
Continue reading “Why coal cares about FERC”
CONTINUE READING(Tentative) ruling in cap-and-trade case looks good for CA: ARB has auction authority
It’s never over till it’s over, but for now California is breathing a little easier as it defends its cap-and-trade allowance auctions from two high-profile industry challenges. The cases, which Ann has discussed here and here, were filed by the California Chamber of Commerce and the Pacific Legal Foundation, and they make both statutory and …
CONTINUE READINGClimate change and insurance
I’ve made this point before, but here’s a challenge for “climate skeptics.” The insurance industry is a competitive, profit-oriented industry. They should have little room for believing in the hoax of climate change: After all, if they did, then a smarter competitor wouldn’t bet on climate change and would clean their clock. And yet, in …
Continue reading “Climate change and insurance”
CONTINUE READINGRoping in the GOP on conservation
In few policy contexts has the right’s shift rightward been more apparent, over the last few decades, than on environmental issues. Not that long ago, environmental values fit nicely within the GOP. Teddy Roosevelt created the national parks; the National Environmental Policy Act, one of our mainstay federal environmental statutes, passed the Senate unanimously, won …
Continue reading “Roping in the GOP on conservation”
CONTINUE READINGGuest Blogger Ken Alex: State of the State
Ken Alex is a Senior Advisor to Governor Jerry Brown and the Director of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research. The views expressed in this blog post are his own. Thanks to Legal Planet, the UCLA Law Emmett Center and Environmental Law Center, and Berkeley Law Center on Law, Energy, and the Environment for …
Continue reading “Guest Blogger Ken Alex: State of the State”
CONTINUE READINGGuest Blogger Ken Alex: 2030 is Calling
Ken Alex is a Senior Advisor to Governor Jerry Brown and the Director of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research. The views expressed in this blog post are his own. California’s AB 32 is the most important climate change law in the country. We are in full implementation mode to meet the requirement that …
Continue reading “Guest Blogger Ken Alex: 2030 is Calling”
CONTINUE READINGGuest Blogger Ken Alex: Big Data and the Renewable Revolution
Ken Alex is a Senior Advisor to Governor Jerry Brown and the Director of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research. The views expressed in this blog post are his own. Earlier this year, UCLA’s Center for Sustainable Communities launched an interactive energy map for energy use in most of Los Angeles. It was a …
Continue reading “Guest Blogger Ken Alex: Big Data and the Renewable Revolution”
CONTINUE READINGGuest Blogger Ken Alex: Saving Electricity for a Rainy Day
Ken Alex is a Senior Advisor to Governor Jerry Brown and the Director of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research. The views expressed in this blog post are his own. We are making progress in two more key areas, although California, for now, is not in the lead. Thanks to new developments and a …
Continue reading “Guest Blogger Ken Alex: Saving Electricity for a Rainy Day”
CONTINUE READINGJoin Our Mailing List
Climate policy is changing rapidly. Stay in the loop with expert analysis via email Monday - Friday.
