Climate Change
The story of the Price-Anderson Act: how Congress made nuclear power financially viable in the U.S. by eliminating accountability for risk
Ever wonder how nuclear power plants have been able to get financial backing in the U.S. despite the huge, and largely uncertain, potential risks they pose? Or why there are nuclear plants within a few hours’ drive of major population centers such as Los Angeles and New York? Or who will pay the costs that …
CONTINUE READINGEvaluating the claim that future environmental regulations have already made California the nation’s worst place to do business
I’m reasonably sure that chiefexecutive.net’s annual listing of “Best/Worst States for Business“ isn’t most people’s go-to source for information comparing various states’ business climates. Nonetheless, the website’s annual survey just came out, and the Sacramento Bee is covering it as a story (with a promise of more coverage to come). California — as usual — …
CONTINUE READINGAnother victim of the budget deal: key US greenhouse gas data?
It was my wonderful law school professor Gary Blasi who first introduced me to the idea that “what gets measured, gets done.” I’m thinking of him and reading this news in some mixture of awe (at our seeming collective ability to ignore problems) and anger (at same): The final fiscal year (FY) 2011 budget provides $95.4 …
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CONTINUE READINGDamage Control for the States: Predicting the Outcome in AEP v. Connecticut
Yesterday I previewed Tuesday’s oral arguments in the U.S. Supreme Court’s American Electric Power v. Connecticut case, and two of my Legal Planet colleagues have already posted comments on certain aspects of those arguments. But let me cast discretion to the wind and predict the outcome of the case. Actually, it’s not that difficult a …
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CONTINUE READINGPreviewing the Supreme Court Oral Arguments in AEP v. Connecticut
On Tuesday the U.S. Supreme Court hears oral arguments in the only environmental case on its docket this Term: American Electric Power v. Connecticut. At issue in this critically important climate change case is whether a coalition of states, New York City and several private land trusts can pursue a federal common law nuisance claim …
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CONTINUE READINGCultivating Pot A Huge Source Of Greenhouse Gas Emissions
I’m not kidding. And oh the possibilities for bad puns. “Energy Up in Smoke” is the title of a new study that finds that marijuana production in the United States results in 1 percent of all electricity production across the country. One percent of all electricity production is the equivalent of providing electricity to 2 million …
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CONTINUE READINGConservatives and climate change
Dan notes, in a recent post, the ways in which potential Republican presidential candidates are backwards-pedaling on whatever statements they might once have made supporting action to address climate change. (Climate change is apparently the new former mistriss — we’ve all flirted in the past with things we now regret.) Former Congressman Bob Inglis (R-S.C.) spoke at UCLA …
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CONTINUE READINGUCLA Law Symposium: Perspectives on Climate Change
Please join us at UCLA Law School on April 15th for the 2011 Environmental Law Symposium, Perspectives on Climate Change, Pollution and the Clean Air Act. The keynote speaker will be Gina McCarthy, Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation. Please RSVP. You can also check out the program for more information. Panel …
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CONTINUE READINGThe recent court decision blocking California’s scoping plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions: One-stop shopping for recent Legal Planet commentary
Several of the bloggers on Legal Planet have been commenting extensively on the recent California court decision that will block the California Air Resources Board from moving forward with its AB 32 Scoping Plan and related regulations. I’ve provided links below to a series of our posts on this decision. The court, ruling on a …
CONTINUE READINGMight recent events allow Governor Brown to consider a new direction for AB 32 implementation?
My colleague Jonathan Zasloff suggests that environmental justice groups are using litigation to try to get leverage for some sort of compensation or other measures, rather than to actually stop the state’s cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gases. I doubt that. But what I do wonder — with no evidence, but I can speculate wildly on …
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