Climate Change
Plastic Trees Revisited
Thirty-five years ago, Larry Tribe wrote an article called “Ways Not to Think About Plastic Trees,” probing the foundations of environmental law. The article prompted an equally interesting response from environmental philosoper Mark Sagoff. The issue was whether we should preserve nature simply for its utility to humans or whether it had other types of …
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CONTINUE READINGIt Depends on What the Meanings of “Are” Are
Bill Clinton once famously said that the truthfulness of a statement depended on “what the meaning of ‘is’ is.” There’s a similar usage issue in a recent spat over climate data. A dispute between Roger Pielke and RealClimate seems to turn in part on whether a statement about current climate trends has to be proven …
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CONTINUE READINGClimate change breaking news: EPA grants California waiver to regulate GHG emissions from cars
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has taken an important step toward addressing climate change and improving our nation’s automobile fuel economy, by granting California and at least 14 other states a waiver allowing them to regulate automobile greenhouse gas emissions. This was not unexpected, given the recent passage of federal legislation with standards similar to …
CONTINUE READINGCool Cars For California
Those California environmental regulators: there they go again… This past week, California’s Air Resources Board adopted first-ever regulations requiring auto manufacturers to include sun-reflecting window glass for all cars and light trucks sold within the state. The new rules take effect in 2014. It turns out that conventional vehicle windows waste a lot of energy. …
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CONTINUE READINGClearing Title (and Rain Forest)
On Friday, the day Waxman-Markey passed the U.S. House, another significant legal development took place — one that may also bear on climate change. President Lula of Brazil signed a bill providing legal title to squatters on Amazon land. Opponents argue that it will spark speculation in Amazonian property and increase deforestation.
CONTINUE READINGClimate Bill Passes House!
The Waxman-Markey bill narrowly passed the House yesterday. This is a historic achievement. As Cara reported yesterday, there are some real qualms about whether the bill is strong enough — and particularly about its heavy reliance on offsets. Environmentalists have never liked offsets, partly because they lessen the technology-forcing effect of emissions controls and partly …
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CONTINUE READINGIs Waxman-Markey Even Worth It?
If Michael O’Hare is right about this, then Waxman-Markey might not be worth the candle: Waxman appears to have sold out the indirect land use issue in a deal with Peterson on the climate change bill: “Waxman also consented to block EPA from calculating “indirect” greenhouse gas emissions from land-use changes when implementing the federal …
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CONTINUE READINGClimate Report from Copenhagen
The University of Copenhagen has issued a synthesis report on Climate Change: Global Risks, Challenges and Decisions. A good summary can be found here. The authors include such luminaries as Sir Nicholas Stern (author of the Stern Report) and Dan Kammen (from Berkeley’s Energy and Resources Group). The bottom line: “further inaction is inexcusable.” Future …
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CONTINUE READINGConfronting Uncertainty Under NEPA
Quantifying risks with confidence is often difficult. For the past thirty years, agencies and courts have struggled with the treatment of uncertainty in environmental impact statements. This problem is all the more important today. Climate change will require innovative solutions – new energy technologies, new adaptation strategies. These innovations will inevitably pose risks, often in …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Supreme Court’s Love Affair with the Takings Clause–Not Over Just Yet
One of the biggest differences between the U.S. Supreme Court under former Chief Justice Rehnquist and the Court under current Chief Justice Roberts is the comparative interest in property rights and the Constitution’s Takings Clause. From 1978 until Rehnquist’s death in 2005, the Supreme Court heard one or more takings cases each Term–culminating in the …
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