Biodiversity & Species
A Better Day for Salmon on the Klamath River
Why would a major utility corporation agree to remove four of its hydroelectric power plants and pay hundreds of millions of dollars for the privilege? As the San Francisco Chronicle reports, that is exactly what would happen under a tentative agreement between PacifiCorp and various other parties, including several American Indian tribes. The dams in …
Continue reading “A Better Day for Salmon on the Klamath River”
CONTINUE READINGWishful thinking doesn’t justify grizzly delisting
Federal Judge Donald Molloy in Montana has ordered the Fish and Wildlife Service to restore grizzly bears in the Yellowstone area to the list of endangered and threatened species. Judge Molloy refused to allow FWS to delist the grizzly on the basis of unsupported wishful thinking about the bear’s future. Grizzly bears once roamed across …
Continue reading “Wishful thinking doesn’t justify grizzly delisting”
CONTINUE READINGDavid Nawi Appointed to High-Ranking USDOI Post
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar has named a respected California environmental lawyer to serve in a key, newly-created Department of Interior post. Salazar appointed David Nawi as his Senior Advisor to the Secretary for California and Nevada. In his announcement selecting Nawi, Secretary Salazar stated, “The current water crisis and land management challenges …
Continue reading “David Nawi Appointed to High-Ranking USDOI Post”
CONTINUE READINGWolf hunts can continue
A federal judge in Montana has refused to halt the hunting of gray wolves in Idaho and Montana, but has strongly suggested that the wolf was unlawfully delisted under the Endangered Species Act. In April, the US Fish and Wildlife Service removed the gray wolf in Idaho and Montana from the endangered species list. The …
Continue reading “Wolf hunts can continue”
CONTINUE READINGUCLA environmental law journal publishes new work on personal norms and carbon emissions, and on other interesting topics
Following in Dan’s footsteps as promoters of our respective schools’ excellent environmental law journals, I’m proud to announce that the UCLA Journal of Environmental Law and Policy Volume 27, #1 was published this summer. This journal issue features several interesting pieces. They include a thought-provoking Comment by second-year UCLA law student Jed Ela, Law and Norms …
CONTINUE READINGNinth Circuit reinstates Clinton roadless rule
Since the end of the Clinton era, there has been much confusion over the status of roadless areas in the national forests. Yesterday the Ninth Circuit weighed in, ruling in California v. USDA that the Bush administration had unlawfully revised the Clinton administration’s Roadless Rule, and reinstating that rule. The decision, which has been welcomed …
Continue reading “Ninth Circuit reinstates Clinton roadless rule”
CONTINUE READINGImproving ESA consultation
In early May, I wrote about the Obama administration’s decision to take up Congress’s invitation to recall the last-minute Bush revisions to the ESA’s section 7 consultation rules. At the time, the new administration also requested public comment on “ways to improve the section 7 regulations while retaining the purposes and policies of the ESA.” …
Continue reading “Improving ESA consultation”
CONTINUE READINGUS won’t appeal Casitas decision
Last month, when he posted about the Supreme Court taking up the Florida beach renourishment case, Rick noted the possibility that the Court might hear another takings case, Casitas Municipal Water District v. U.S., 543 F.3d 1276 (2008). Indeed, the Casitas case, in which the Federal Circuit held that the physical takings doctrine applied to …
Continue reading “US won’t appeal Casitas decision”
CONTINUE READINGBack to the future in northwest federal forests
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar today announced the withdrawal of the Bush administration’s last-minute revisions of the Northwest Forest Plan. Interior will also ask a federal court to vacate the 2008 modification of critical habitat for the northern spotted owl, and will review the 2008 spotted owl recovery plan, heavily criticized by outside scientists, which was …
Continue reading “Back to the future in northwest federal forests”
CONTINUE READINGPolar bear fact and fantasy
There was an interesting juxtaposition of news about the polar bear recently, one that illustrates the divide between working research scientists trying to grapple with the impacts of global warming and the skeptics who insist that climate change either is not occurring or is not a problem. The Polar Bear Specialist Group, launched in the …
Continue reading “Polar bear fact and fantasy”
CONTINUE READINGJoin Our Mailing List
Climate policy is changing rapidly. Stay in the loop with expert analysis via email Monday - Friday.
