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HFCs

Next Steps to Save the Global Environment

A lot will need to be done to undo Trump’s harm to global cooperation. Here’s a start.

Trump’s hostility domestic environmental regulation is notorious. He also stalled or backpedaled on the international front. Here are seven steps that President Biden could take to remedy the situation. Rejoin the Paris Agreement. The U.S. needs to immediately rejoin the Paris Agreement. It also needs to update its climate target, because we can do a …

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Hitching a Ride on the Omnibus

In a holiday gift from Congress, environmental gains arrive in an overstuffed spending bill.

The massive omnibus bill that just passed Congress contains a bevy of environment friendly provisions. Despite some last-minute tweeted complaints from Trump about the bill, those provisions are likely to make their way into law. Given that the Senate and the White House are in Republican hands, it’s a wonder when such provisions sneak through …

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Guest Blogger Ken Alex: Methane, Black Carbon, and HFCs

Post #5 in a Series on California Climate Policy by Ken Alex, Senior Policy Advisor to Gov. Jerry Brown

[This is the fifth post in a series expressing my view of why California’s actions on climate change are so important and how they will change the world. The introductory post provides an overview and some general context.] One of the most important actions we can take to combat climate change is to halt the emission of …

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Setback for EPA in Regulating Gases with High Global Warming Potential

DC Circuit vacates 2015 rule on HFCs

Today, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a 2015 EPA rule targeting the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), a class of potent greenhouse gases that are used as refrigerants and propellants for a variety of purposes as a substitute for ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs). The court’s decision is a setback for President Obama’s …

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2016: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

“But except for that, how did you like the play, Mrs. Lincoln?” It’s an old joke, for all I know going back to 1865. That was 2016,too, in a way. Like Mrs. Lincoln’s evening at Ford’s Theater, 2016 contained a lot of good things, some bad things, and then disaster. Here’s a list of each. The …

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A gift from the Montreal Protocol parties to the Climate Convention

Montreal Protocol parties agree to negotiate amendment to limit HFCs

Last week, the parties of the Montreal Protocol took an important step to broaden their treaty’s chemical controls to contribute to limiting climate change. The chemicals at issue are the HFCs, or Hydrofluorocarbons. (Like the other halogenated chemicals relevant to ozone depletion, the acronym tells you the chemical composition of the class of chemicals. The …

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A Big Step for the Montreal Protocol

Parties to the Montreal Protocol will hold their 25th meeting next week in Bangkok. In addition to all their normal business related to the continuing phasedown of ozone-depleting substances (ODS), parties at this meeting will consider a huge step, in the form of proposals to amend the Protocol to phase down Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). Proponents of …

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LGBTQ People Face Greater Climate Risks

A new study by the UCLA Williams Institute finds that LGBTQ people in same-sex couples are at greater risk of exposure to the harms of climate change compared to straight couples.

Why the New Climate Reg for Coal is a Perfectly Normal EPA Rule

EPA’s approach isn’t a novel innovation. It’s just EPA applying its usual approach.

EPA’s New Power Plant Rules Have Dropped. What Happens Next?

Media battles. Lawsuits. Stay requests. And political mayhem.

We Need a True Debate Over Income-Graduated Fixed Charges

A state bill to cap the fixed charges utilities can collect in California would shut down an important debate about equity and rate design. Here’s a better way forward.

Could Trump Cancel the IRA?

Probably not. But also possibly yes.

Climate Action for Earth Day

“We have a long way to go, but we’ve started down the path.” I asked my UCLA Emmett Institute colleagues what climate actions give them hope on Earth Day. Here’s how they answered.

A New Era for Protecting Public Lands

The Bureau of Land Management has always prioritized extraction activities. Now the agency has announced a rule that could elevate conservation.

Don’t Count Your Judicial Vultures Before They Hatch

The conservative Supreme Court majority may turn out as bad as we fear. Or maybe not.

Filling in the Picture: The Latest From Kennedy about Climate

Here’s what Kennedy says about his campaign, its effect on the race, and climate change.

Five Myths and Half-Truths About California Cap and Trade

California has spent years fine-tuning its trading system, with results that aren’t always easy to gauge.

California Wins Major Clean Air Act/Climate Change Case in D.C. Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals Rejects Red States’ Challenge to California’s CAA “Waiver Authority”

U.S. Supreme Court Revisits, Tightens Regulatory Takings Limits on Land Use Regulation

California Homeowner’s Takings Challenge to County’s Traffic Impact Fee Heads Back to State Court

The ‘Year of Climate’ in International Courts

Guest contributor Rebecca Hamilton previews several opinions that touch on the question of the international legal obligations of States in light of the climate emergency.

Ranking the Candidates’ Focus on Energy & Climate

Some campaign websites mention these issues only in passing. Others went into more detail.

No, EVs are Not Worse for the Planet

There’s an electric car culture war raging. It doesn’t hurt to say obvious things, like that electric cars reduce driving costs and pollute far less than gas-powered cars.

A Total Eclipse of the Heat

The eclipse mania gripping U.S. media and the entire nation is an opportunity to gaze in awe at the climate crisis we’ve unleashed and talk about our collective response.

Power of the People: Environmental Advocacy in China

Several of China’s most prominent environmental advocates will join a keynote talk at UCLA Law on the role of civil society in addressing China’s global environmental impacts.

HFCs

A lot will need to be done to undo Trump’s harm to global cooperation. Here’s a start.

In a holiday gift from Congress, environmental gains arrive in an overstuffed spending bill.

Post #5 in a Series on California Climate Policy by Ken Alex, Senior Policy Advisor to Gov. Jerry Brown

DC Circuit vacates 2015 rule on HFCs

Montreal Protocol parties agree to negotiate amendment to limit HFCs

TRENDING

A new study by the UCLA Williams Institute finds that LGBTQ people in same-sex couples are at greater risk of exposure to the harms of climate change compared to straight couples.

EPA’s approach isn’t a novel innovation. It’s just EPA applying its usual approach.

Media battles. Lawsuits. Stay requests. And political mayhem.

A state bill to cap the fixed charges utilities can collect in California would shut down an important debate about equity and rate design. Here’s a better way forward.

Probably not. But also possibly yes.

“We have a long way to go, but we’ve started down the path.” I asked my UCLA Emmett Institute colleagues what climate actions give them hope on Earth Day. Here’s how they answered.

The Bureau of Land Management has always prioritized extraction activities. Now the agency has announced a rule that could elevate conservation.

The conservative Supreme Court majority may turn out as bad as we fear. Or maybe not.

Here’s what Kennedy says about his campaign, its effect on the race, and climate change.

California has spent years fine-tuning its trading system, with results that aren’t always easy to gauge.

U.S. Court of Appeals Rejects Red States’ Challenge to California’s CAA “Waiver Authority”

California Homeowner’s Takings Challenge to County’s Traffic Impact Fee Heads Back to State Court

Guest contributor Rebecca Hamilton previews several opinions that touch on the question of the international legal obligations of States in light of the climate emergency.

Some campaign websites mention these issues only in passing. Others went into more detail.

There’s an electric car culture war raging. It doesn’t hurt to say obvious things, like that electric cars reduce driving costs and pollute far less than gas-powered cars.

The eclipse mania gripping U.S. media and the entire nation is an opportunity to gaze in awe at the climate crisis we’ve unleashed and talk about our collective response.

Several of China’s most prominent environmental advocates will join a keynote talk at UCLA Law on the role of civil society in addressing China’s global environmental impacts.

Here’s what Kennedy says about his campaign, its effect on the race, and climate change.

The conservative Supreme Court majority may turn out as bad as we fear. Or maybe not.

The Bureau of Land Management has always prioritized extraction activities. Now the agency has announced a rule that could elevate conservation.