Academia

Climategate Bites the Dust

It was a faked, trumped-up scandal from the beginning, and now it’s official nonsense: An American scientist accused of manipulating research findings on climate science was cleared of that charge by his university on Thursday, the latest in a string of reports to find little substance in the allegations known as Climategate. This comes on …

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News Flash: Richard Lazarus to be Executive Director of Deepwater Horizon Team

DOE has announced: The co-chairs of the bipartisan National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling have selected a highly regarded Georgetown University law professor to serve as the commission’s executive director. Richard Lazarus, the Justice William J. Brennan, Jr., Professor of Law at Georgetown, will lead the staff of the …

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“Facing Catastrophe”: A Roadmap to a Safer Future

Rob Verchick’s new book, “Facing Catastrophe: Environmental Action for a Post-Katrina World,” might help avoid future disasters like the Deepsea Horizon blowout. Verchick views wetlands, lakes, forests, and rivers as a kind of infrastructure, providing ecosystem services that are just as important as the services provided by other infrastructure such as roads and dams.  For …

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Kitcher on climate change debates

For those of you with an interest in climate change and access to the journal Science, I recommend Philip Kitcher’s “essay review,” The Climate Change Debates. Kitcher, a philosopher of science at Columbia University, uses a review of eight recently-published books about climate science, policy, and politics as the basis for an essay about the …

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UVA Defends Academic Freedom

The Virgnia Attorney General, taking a little time off from his frivolous litigation against healthcare reform, is engaged in a fishing expedition against the University of Virginia.  He has issued a sweeping civil investigative demand (CID) for university records relating to climate researcher Michael Mann, for no evident legitimate purpose. After some equivocation, the University …

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In Memoriam: Jamie Grodsky

We learned this weekend of the tragic death of Jamie Grodsky, a rising star in environmental law who taught at George Washington University.  She died after a brief illness. Jamie joined the GW faculty in 2006, after serving as an associate professor of law at the University of Minnesota Law School. Jamie was a meticulous scholar …

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…in which I become petty and backbiting — sort of

Elena Kagan might not be the greatest scholar in the world — and that might be why President Obama appoints her to the Supreme Court.

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Ecology Law Quarterly, Volume 37, number 1

We have been remiss in not noting the publication in March of another issue of Ecology Law Quarterly.  In this issue are the following articles: Managing the National Forests through Place-Based Legislation, Martin Nie & Michael Fiebig Read Article (PDF) A Comparative Guide to the Western States’ Public Trust Doctrines: Public Values, Private Rights, and …

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A Flock of Environmental Law Journals

Doug Kysar has compiled a list of environmental law journals, which some of our readers may be interested to see.  It’s notable how many journals (more than fifty)  specialize in environmental, natural resource, or regulatory matters.  The list is after the jump.  You can also find another list with links here. Speaking of environmental law …

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Schroeder Confirmed Despite Refusal to Limit Judicial Appointments to Androids.

The Senate has just confirmed Chris Schroeder as head of the Office of Legal Policy by a 72-24 vote.  He was apparently controversial because he had spoken favorably of empathy as a judicial virtue — the opposing position apparently favors the appointment of androids to the bench, such as Star Trek: New Generation’s Commander Data.  …

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