public nuisance Archives

public nuisance

Climate Change in the Courts

What’s next in climate change litigation?

There are three important climate lawsuits pending in federal court. Here’s the state of play and what to expect next. In the first case, Oakland and San Francisco sued leading oil companies. They claim that the companies’ production and sale of fossil fuels is a public nuisance under California state law. They seek an abatement …

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Cities are suing oil companies for climate change harms. Could they win?

Join UCLA Law Emmett Institute and Union of Concerned Scientists for January 25 evening talk on new climate lawsuits

Who should pay for the significant costs that cities and other local governments incur in responding to climate change? Los Angeles is the most recent city to explore the idea of suing fossil fuel companies for these harms, following in the footsteps of San Francisco, San Mateo County and a growing cohort of other jurisdictions …

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Legal Planet Takes Over the Yale Law Journal

Along with Dan, I also have a response to the Ewing/Kysar paper at YLJ Online. (For those of your keeping score at home, two out of three commissioned responses were Legal Planet bloggers: we win!). It should surprise no one that while Dan’s is elegant and technical, mine is cranky and dyspeptic. Here’s the abstract: This …

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Prods and Pleas/Stopgaps and Failsafes

In a recent article in the Yale Law Journal, Benjamin Ewing and Douglas Kysar discuss how other part of government can step in when Congress defaults on its responsibility to make public policy. Their article, Prods and Pleas: Limited Government in an Era of Unlimited Harm, focuses on the tort litigation involving climate change. Using …

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The First Federal Environmental Law Decision

Of course, it’s a bit arbitrary to pick one case as the first environmental law decision. Many people would probably name the Scenic Hudson opinion, but my nominee would be a decision many decades earlier: Woodruff v. North Bloomfield Gravel Mining Co., 18 F. 753 (C.C.Cal. 1884). What makes it reasonable to call this the …

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Globalizing Public Nuisance

Let’s assume, as most of us on this blog do, that the Supreme Court will get rid of the public nuisance climate change when it decides Connecticut v. AEP a few weeks from now. Does that get rid of public nuisance climate cases? Not necessarily. Whatever one may think of the Clean Air Act’s displacement …

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Saving Public Nuisance

I agree with Rick’s take on the oral argument in Connecticut v. AEP — in fact, so much so that I predicted it three years ago! But if the Supreme Court overturns the Second Circuit on the viability of a federal common law claim, that actually makes the viability of state common law claims stronger. …

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Preview of Coming Attractions: American Electric Power v. State of Connecticut

The U.S. Supreme Court recently announced the scheduling of oral arguments in the biggest (actually, the only) environmental case of its current Term: American Electric Power v. State of Connecticut. The justices will hear arguments on April 19th, and render their decision in this major climate change case by the end of June. Already, however, …

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U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Climate Change Nuisance Case

The 2010-2011 U.S. Supreme Court case promises to be a blockbuster one for environmental law. The Court today announced that it had granted a petition for certiorari filed in AEP v. Connecticut (the lower court decision in the case is here). The case, brought by a number of states against the country’s five larges utilities , …

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Connecticut v. AEP Cert Decision Soon?

A reporter just called me for background on the climate change public nuisance case from the Second Circuit, Connecticut v. AEP. She said, “As you probably know, the Supreme Court will announce on Monday whether it will take the case.” Um, no, actually: I didn’t know that. The Supremes make their decisions throughout the year, …

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What’s a Major Question? Opinions differ.

Scholars don’t know the answer. Nor, apparently, do the federal courts of appeals.

No, There’s No Scientific Conspiracy About Climate Change

Anyone who thinks otherwise has never met a real live academic. We can barely conspire about where to eat lunch.

A Summer Job, Record Heat, Climate Hope

Guest contributor Mollie Cueva-Dabkoski reflects on working as a summer law intern at Our Children’s Trust on the Held v. Montana case.

California is Suing Big Oil Thanks to Journalism

California’s climate and consumer protection lawsuit against Big Oil was made possible by the past work of journalists. What’s the state of climate journalism now?

Action on Methane

California’s Subnational Initiative

A Radical Proposal Hidden in Plain Sight in the Overshoot Commission Report

The Commission’s recommendations on emissions include a fossil phaseout much stronger than anything now proposed, which could materially advance climate action.

Predictions of IRA’s Success Solidify

IRA’s early impacts have been dramatic, and there’s a consensus that it will bend the US emissions curve downward.

Angry About Stalled Progress on Fossil Fuels? Biden’s Not the Culprit.

Sorry, no president can single-handedly fix climate policy. And certainly not with this Supreme Court.

Why is there a Carrot Boycott in Cuyama Valley?

Small farmers and rural residents are calling for a boycott against Bolthouse and Grimmway Farms. Here’s what it says about California’s effort to manage groundwater.

The Climate Overshoot Commission Releases its Report

A dozen global leaders weigh in on the risk of exceeding the Paris temperature targets and what it means for climate response.

Upcoming Regulatory Cases in the Supreme Court

Two pending cases could result in big cuts to agency powers

Income-Based Electric Bills: Fact and Fiction

California is in the process of making income-graduated fixed rates a part of ratepayers’ electric bills. This is the first post in a series that follows that proceeding.

California is Suing Big Oil Thanks to Journalism

California’s climate and consumer protection lawsuit against Big Oil was made possible by the past work of journalists. What’s the state of climate journalism now?

Is Capitalism to Blame?

Some people think we need to abolish capitalism to save the environment.

Predictions of IRA’s Success Solidify

IRA’s early impacts have been dramatic, and there’s a consensus that it will bend the US emissions curve downward.

Angry About Stalled Progress on Fossil Fuels? Biden’s Not the Culprit.

Sorry, no president can single-handedly fix climate policy. And certainly not with this Supreme Court.

Why is there a Carrot Boycott in Cuyama Valley?

Small farmers and rural residents are calling for a boycott against Bolthouse and Grimmway Farms. Here’s what it says about California’s effort to manage groundwater.

public nuisance

What’s next in climate change litigation?

Join UCLA Law Emmett Institute and Union of Concerned Scientists for January 25 evening talk on new climate lawsuits

TRENDING

Scholars don’t know the answer. Nor, apparently, do the federal courts of appeals.

Anyone who thinks otherwise has never met a real live academic. We can barely conspire about where to eat lunch.

Guest contributor Mollie Cueva-Dabkoski reflects on working as a summer law intern at Our Children’s Trust on the Held v. Montana case.

California’s climate and consumer protection lawsuit against Big Oil was made possible by the past work of journalists. What’s the state of climate journalism now?

California’s Subnational Initiative

The Commission’s recommendations on emissions include a fossil phaseout much stronger than anything now proposed, which could materially advance climate action.

IRA’s early impacts have been dramatic, and there’s a consensus that it will bend the US emissions curve downward.

Sorry, no president can single-handedly fix climate policy. And certainly not with this Supreme Court.

Small farmers and rural residents are calling for a boycott against Bolthouse and Grimmway Farms. Here’s what it says about California’s effort to manage groundwater.

A dozen global leaders weigh in on the risk of exceeding the Paris temperature targets and what it means for climate response.

Two pending cases could result in big cuts to agency powers

California is in the process of making income-graduated fixed rates a part of ratepayers’ electric bills. This is the first post in a series that follows that proceeding.

California’s climate and consumer protection lawsuit against Big Oil was made possible by the past work of journalists. What’s the state of climate journalism now?

Some people think we need to abolish capitalism to save the environment.

IRA’s early impacts have been dramatic, and there’s a consensus that it will bend the US emissions curve downward.

Sorry, no president can single-handedly fix climate policy. And certainly not with this Supreme Court.

Small farmers and rural residents are calling for a boycott against Bolthouse and Grimmway Farms. Here’s what it says about California’s effort to manage groundwater.

A dozen global leaders weigh in on the risk of exceeding the Paris temperature targets and what it means for climate response.

SB 261 first proposed and drafted by CLEE Climate Risk Initiative

Three big cases in the D.C. Circuit will determine the fate of Biden’s vehicle regulations.