Climate Change
New Issue of Ecology Law Quarterly is Available On-Line
Creating Flexibility in Interstate Compacts Emily Jeffers Read Article (PDF) Environmental Conservation Organization v. City of Dallas Creates Unnecessary Burdens for Citizen Suits under the Clean Water Act Catherine Mongeon Read Article (PDF) Making Snow in the Desert: Defining a Substantial Burden under RFRA Jonathan Knapp Read Article (PDF) Taking a Hard Look at Agency …
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CONTINUE READINGAnd You Think Health Care Is Controversial?
In watching the insanity of the debate over health care reform in the past couple of weeks I can’t help but wonder what the debate over climate change legislation will bring. Lest you think the right wing opponents of health care reform can’t be beat in their intensity and rhetorical outrage, consider the following two …
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CONTINUE READINGMeat and climate change redux
Back in January, I blogged about the link between meat production and GHGs. Grist.org has taken up this issue recently, with an interesting article by Tom Philpott making the case that U.S. livestock production is a significant contributor to GHG emissions, and a rebuttal from farmer Eliot Coleman. As Philpott’s article notes, a U.N. FAO …
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CONTINUE READINGMore on reengineering – what about the oceans?
Regarding Dan’s post on reengineering the planet, one more shortcoming of the commonly discussed geoengineering solutions (even assuming they work exactly as designed and have none of the unintended consequences Dan, and others, fear) is that they are far from complete, leaving out entirely any remedy for ocean acidification, the “other” greenhouse gas problem. More info on …
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CONTINUE READINGChina, Congress and Climate Change
This week brings two related and interesting stories on the prospects for domestic climate change legislation and progress in Copenhagen when the international community gathers in December to try to hammer out a post-Kyoto treaty on climate change. The first is that China’s top climate negotiator is “optimistic” that the international community will reach agreement on …
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CONTINUE READINGNoah’s Art
Having just made my first trip to the Art Institute in Chicago, I was primed for this feature in Grist on the state of climate art. If one can judge a movement by its artists, it seems we still have a fair ways to go–though I like this Venus. Also like this slideshow of climate activists around …
CONTINUE READINGOffsets and Waxman Markey
Will the massive number of offsets allowed under the proposed Waxman-Markey climate change bill destroy its effectiveness? Waxman-Markey allows for a huge number of offsets from both domestic and international sources – up to 2 billion tons. Some analysts estimate that if all of these offsets are used domestic emissions will not begin to decline until …
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CONTINUE READINGWater for Power Plants: A Major Concern All of Its Own
As the demand for freshwater grows and supplies dwindle, should water use become a major factor in choosing new sources of electric power? That is a question addressed recently in a hearing sponsored by a subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee on Science and Technology. The United States Geological Survey says that 48 percent of …
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CONTINUE READINGNate Silver’s Challenge to Climate Denialists: Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is
Nate Silver, the well-known statistical and polling guru, has issued this challenge to climate change denialists on his website: The rules of his challenge are as follows: 1. For each day that the high temperature in your hometown is at least 1 degree Fahrenheit above average, as listed by Weather Underground, you owe him $25. …
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CONTINUE READINGFour Years Later, and Still No Real Plan
A new report by the National Research Council gives “thumbs down” to the Army Corps’ plans for preventing another Katrina disaster. This is the kind of planning that we simply have to learn to do right– not just for the sake of those immediately at risk, but because rising sea level and more extreme weather …
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