Biodiversity & Species
Political Extinction Risk
Species may be vulnerable not just to changes in climate or habitat, but also to changes in politics
Conservation biologists have long studied many different kinds of risks to endangered species: Risks from climate change, or from habitat fragmentation, or from having small populations for extended periods of time. But there is another key component of risk that has not been analyzed yet, but may matter as much or more to many endangered …
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CONTINUE READINGFake species?
Looking at the data on ESA listed species to see if enviro groups strategically identify species to block development.
This tweet, arguing that it’s “an open secret at this point that environmental activists try to invent fake ‘endangered’ species to block infrastructure projects they don’t like” got a lot of traction. But is it correct? It turns out that a paper I did (with Berry Brosi) about 15 years ago provides some insights into …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Trump Administration is Squandering Our Natural Heritage
Proposed Endangered Species Act regulations are designed to stifle protections and provide developers even more power.
The world’s ecosystems have been subject to an increasingly dangerous cocktail of stressors from land and ocean over-development, invasive species, and pollution. But rather than stem the tide of these harms, the Trump administration has resurrected several regulatory changes to the Endangered Species Act designed to stifle species’ protections and provide land developers even more power to …
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CONTINUE READINGPing-pong government and the ESA
Recent proposed revisions for the ESA just reset the clock to 2020.
The Trump Administration in November proposed revisions to the regulations implementing the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Normally, I would try to do a thoughtful review of the changes and what I think their implications are. But that is really not necessary this time, since what the Administration is proposing is to undo Biden Administration changes …
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CONTINUE READINGSome Good News To Close Out This Year
Despite the Trump Administration’s attempts to bring the world into the dark ages, lots of light is blazing
I’m a pretty pessimistic guy. Finding the dark cloud behind the silver lining is something of a specialty for me. But maybe at the end of an atrocious year for environmental law and policy in the United States, we should look for the good news, and thanks to the good people at Canary Media, there …
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CONTINUE READINGYes, It’s That Time of Year Again
If you read Legal Planet, you know why the work we do matters.
Like everyone else, I’m sure you find fundraising appeals annoying. That’s why we only do them twice a year. But there couldn’t be a more important time for the work we do, given the urgency of the climate crisis and the ongoing policy disaster in D.C.
Trump’s second term has proved to be even more ruinous than expected for the environment, with a dedicated effort to slash pollution regulation, suppress clean energy, and glorify fossil fuels. That makes the environmental work we do at Berkeley and UCLA more urgent than ever.
CONTINUE READINGThe Top Ten Things to be Thankful for this Year
It’s been a horrible year for federal environmental law, but there are hopeful developments elsewhere.
This is, if not the winter of our discontent, at least the late autumn. In terms of federal environmental policy, 2025 has been a disaster. Trump’s previous term in office pales by comparison. But all is not gloomy. Outside of D.C., there have been encouraging developments within the U.S. and globally.
Here are ten of those positive developments.
Fixing Fix Our Forests
The emergency provisions of Fix Our Forests are a key weakness in the bill
The permitting reform bill that has made the most progress through Congress is the Fix Our Forests Act, which I’ve written about here, here, and here. And as I’ve written before, fixing fire management on federal lands should be a top priority for any reforms. I’m not sure that the model of Fix Our Forests …
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CONTINUE READINGIs Diversity A Strength? Not Always
Environmental history shows that specifics matter
To absolutely no one’s surprise, Zohran Mamdani defeated Andrew Cuomo Tuesday in the race for the Mayor of New York City, becoming the Big Apple’s first Muslim mayor. Also to absolutely no one’s surprise, much of the campaign against Mamdani descended into Islamophobia – less from Cuomo himself and more from his supporters and outside …
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CONTINUE READINGClimate Change is Coming for Your Coffee
The Drain is a weekly roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.
My drug habit is becoming more expensive thanks to the dangerous duo of climate change and Donald Trump. The cost of coffee keeps going up. I saw firsthand why this is happening back in May on an eye-opening trip to Acre, Brazil, where I toured a couple of farms in the Amazon. One was a …
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