Academia
Nanopolicy Bumps in California
California continues to lead the way nationally on nanotechnology regulation, despite some bumps along the way. Most recently, the Department of Toxic Substances Control issued a request for information regarding analytical test methods, fate and transport in the environment, and other relevant information from manufacturers of reactive nanometal oxides. Substances covered include aluminum oxide, silicon …
Continue reading “Nanopolicy Bumps in California”
CONTINUE READINGWebcast of Climate Law Course
Berkeley Law has begun webcasting some of its courses, including the seminar on Climate Change and the Law that Cymie Payne and I taught last spring. I was pleased to learn that this class has been picked up by the Academic Earth website. I’m not sure, however, that this is the picture that I would …
Continue reading “Webcast of Climate Law Course”
CONTINUE READINGT.R.–Our First Environmental President
I confess that Theodore Roosevelt has always been my favorite President. In part, it was his joie de vivre; in part his eclectic, passionate intellectual curiosity; and, in part, his sunny optimism in the face of often-formidable challenges. I recalled these traits when I read a fascinating excerpt in this month’s Vanity Fair from a …
Continue reading “T.R.–Our First Environmental President”
CONTINUE READINGCass Sunstein Has Lost His Mind
I’m in the middle of reading Sunstein and Thaler’s Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth and Happiness, and a lot of it is illuminating, if somewhat predictable for those who have followed behavioral economics over the last few years. But so far, by far the worst chapter has been the one on the environment, which …
Continue reading “Cass Sunstein Has Lost His Mind”
CONTINUE READINGAnother one bites the dust (RIP Cannon nomination)
Ann touted the nomination of Jon Cannon to be EPA Deputy Administrator here as “a great appointment,” but last week he became the most recent Obama nominee to fall. Here’s the WSJ coverage. His withdrawal is being met with real sadness in many quarters. At a conference of public and private bar environmental lawyers in Los Angeles on Friday, Cecilia Estolano, CEO of the LA Community …
Continue reading “Another one bites the dust (RIP Cannon nomination)”
CONTINUE READINGAn Invitation to Explore the Connections Between Constitutional & Environmental Law
These days, more and more of the most important environmental law disputes arise in the crucible of constitutional law. Preemption, the Dormant Commerce Clause, the foreign powers doctrine, constitutional principles of standing to sue and the separation of powers doctrine are all doctrines of constitutional law that have been invoked in much of the most …
CONTINUE READINGOcean Law Developments
If you’re interested in ocean issues, you might want to take a look at the new symposium in Issues in Legal Scholarship: Frontier Issues in Ocean Law: Marine Resources, Maritime Boundaries, and the Law of the Sea. Issues in Legal Scholarship is on on-line, peer-reviewed publiation of Berkeley Law, featuring symposiums organized by Berkeley faculty …
Continue reading “Ocean Law Developments”
CONTINUE READINGDon’t Judge a Book By Its Title
Some months ago, the publisher sent me a free copy of a book by Fred Pearce, Confessions of an Eco-Sinner. I left it sitting around but didn’t plan to read it — the title sounded unpleasantly self-righteous and simultaneously self-flagellating. I finally did leaf through it and ended up reading the whole thing. It’s not …
Continue reading “Don’t Judge a Book By Its Title”
CONTINUE READINGIs Environmental Law Socialist?
Conservatives might be seeking a spiritual leader, organizing principle and fresh identity, but they at least seem to have settled on a favorite rhetorical ogre: socialism. As in, Democrats are intent on forcing socialism on the “U.S.S.A” (as the bumper sticker says, under the words “Comrade Obama”). This trend, as reported by the New York …
Continue reading “Is Environmental Law Socialist?”
CONTINUE READINGJon Cannon To Be EPA Deputy Administrator
President Obama has nominated Jon Cannon, Professor of Law at University of Virginia, to be the EPA’s new Deputy Administrator, subject to Senate confirmation. Cannon has extensive experience in the federal government, including three years as the EPA’s General Counsel from 1995-98. In my view he’s a great appointment. His background gives him enormous experience, …
Continue reading “Jon Cannon To Be EPA Deputy Administrator”
CONTINUE READING