California
The Ninth Circuit Takes EPA to Task (Twice)
EPA’s pesticide registration efforts trigger forceful response
Judge McKeown of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals recently wrote of the EPA, “Although filibustering may be a venerable tradition in the United States Senate, it is frowned upon in administrative agencies tasked with protecting human health.” Yikes. What did the EPA do to elicit such a reaction from a federal judge? The short …
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CONTINUE READINGAttack of the Killer Blob
A weird patch of warm weather is killing sea lions and poisoning crabs.
There’s a weird area of warm water, which has come to be known as the Blob, sitting offshore of the West Coast. That doesn’t sound too significant, except perhaps in terms of making things more pleasant for swimmers. But actually, it’s causing a whole cascade of impacts on wildlife and humans. As the Chronicle explains: “The …
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CONTINUE READINGMuddling Through on Land Use Reform
Will Reform of Parking Regulations Ever See the Light of Day?
More than half a century ago, Charles Lindblom described the policy-making process as “The Science of Muddling Through.” California just demonstrated this with a new law, AB 744 (Chau), that holds important potential but in and of itself will not change the landscape. (Here is the most recent bill analysis). The law says that for …
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CONTINUE READINGRecreational marijuana legalization in California
Will a proposed ballot initiative on recreational marijuana legalization in California help the environment
In the wake of the enactment by the legislature of a regulatory structure for medical marijuana, it looks like voters in 2016 will probably be able to decide whether to legalize recreational use as well. Leading advocates for legalization of recreational marijuana have submitted a language for a ballot initiative to the California Secretary of …
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CONTINUE READINGCalifornia Supreme Court Continues to Expand Its Environmental Docket
Justices Considering Unprecedented Number & Variety of Environmental Law Issues
At the beginning of 2015, I posted on this site an analysis of the California Supreme Court’s environmental law docket. My conclusion was that California’s highest court was showing unprecedented interest in environmental law–as demonstrated by the fact that it then had pending nine cases arising under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and 20 …
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CONTINUE READINGAir quality and wildfire
We may need to burn more to get less smoke
One of the impacts of California’s difficult fire season has been air pollution. Fires produce smoke. Large wildfires produce a lot of smoke. And large wildfires in the southern Sierra Nevada produce smoke in the southern Central Valley – the part of the United States that already has some of the worst air quality in …
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CONTINUE READINGThe First Environmentalist Law Teacher
William Colby (1870-1964), a pioneering figure in the Sierra Club from Berkeley’s past
I’m pretty sure that William E. Colby qualifies as the nation’s first environmentalist law teacher, if only because environmentalism was very young at the time.. Colby was a lecturer on mining law and water law at Berkeley for twenty-one years, retiring in 1936. (That doesn’t make him the first natural resources teacher; Judge Lindley had taught …
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CONTINUE READINGCalifornia and Other Western States See Barriers to Protecting Streams
A new report highlights twelve western states’ efforts to restore stream flows using environmental water transfers
Unnaturally low flows in rivers and streams throughout the western United States have threatened fish and other aquatic species for decades. But restoring flows has proved a significant and complex challenge. A recent report prepared for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation by Stanford University’s Water in the West Program documents twelve western states’ efforts …
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CONTINUE READINGCalifornia Enshrines Renewables And Energy Efficiency 2030 Goals — And Maybe Greenhouse Gas Goals, Too
Buried provision in the bill codifies long-term climate goals in the context of vehicle electrification
Today Governor Jerry Brown signed SB 350 (De Leon), a landmark bill that pledges California to a 50% renewable goal by 2030, as well as a doubling of energy efficiency in existing buildings by that date. Despite the environmental win, it’s been well-reported by the media and others that California’s environmental leaders got beaten pretty …
CONTINUE READINGNew Report: Grading California’s Rail Transit Station Areas
Next 10 releases Berkeley Law study on transit-oriented development
If we build it, they will come. For many years, that was the mantra of rail transit planners. Just build the rail line, and development will happen around the stations. And then more people will ride, and the system will be a good investment. But in California, too often that hasn’t been the case. Much …
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