Climate Change

The Supreme Court Stay and the Dog That Didn’t Bark

EPA’s Requirements for New Plants Remain Intact

The Supreme Court’s stay of the Clean Power Plan was a surprise to almost all observers, maybe even to the lawyers requesting the stay.  We can only speculate on what the five majority Justices had in mind, since there was no written opinion. The practical impact of the decision is also unclear. E&E news reports that the …

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The Decision to Halt the Implementation of the Clean Power Plan is Outrageous

And Inconsistent with the Law

As I wrote earlier today, there is nothing good to be said about the U.S. Supreme Court decision today that halted the implementation of the President’s Clean Power Plan.  The decision is a huge blow to the President’s climate agenda, it’s a setback for the Paris Agreement and it is a bad sign that the …

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Initial Thoughts on the Supreme Court Staying the Clean Power Plan

Short Answer: There’s Nothing Good to Say About it

The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 half-page order, dealt the Obama Administration a big blow today by preventing its Clean Power Plan from going into effect until the case can be heard on its merits.  We know from the order that the Court split in the usual way, with the four more liberal members of the Court …

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Lessons from Aliso Canyon, Part I

Regulation of the Oil and Gas Sector

Since October 23, 2015, a leak in a natural gas well has been releasing methane gas near the Porter Ranch neighborhood of Los Angeles. Although methane is invisible and odorless, gas companies add odorants to alert people to leaks, and it is these additives, usually mercaptans, that experts believe are causing the physical effects suffered by …

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The Future of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant

A group of scientists, philanthropists, and self-identified conservationists weighs in.

The role that nuclear power could or should play in helping to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions is worthy of serious debate, but the latest nuclear-related front-page story in the San Francisco Chronicle is a head-scratcher. Above the fold, the headline reads “Nuclear plant’s surprise backers,” followed by the following subheading: “Environmentalists push for Diablo Canyon …

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EPA Wins the First Round in Clean Power Plan Litigation

…But this is just the beginning—and the Supreme Court will have a say

As we reported last week, on January 21st, a D.C. Circuit panel denied Clean Power Plan opponents’ request for a “stay”—or temporary suspension—of the rule pending judicial review. Read the court order here. We have discussed the Clean Power Plan litigation at length on Legal Planet. As a quick refresher, the Clean Power Plan is …

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A Little Quieter, Please

Hollywood Stars Might Not Be the Best Public Critics of the Fossil Fuel Industry

Canada’s new Liberal government can hardly be accused of being soft on climate change: at the recent Paris Summit it endorsed a target of holding global warming to 1.5 Degrees Celsius over historic levels. So when you hear this from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, listen: Most recently in Davos on Wednesday, [Leonardo] DiCaprio used a …

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DC Circuit Denies Stay of Clean Power Plan

  The DC Circuit issued a judgment denying the request for a stay in the case challenging the Clean Power Plan, West Virginia v. EPA. The decision simply states that the petitioners failed to meet the “stringent requirements for a stay pending court review.” The court ordered the parties to submit a proposed briefing schedule by …

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Two Record-Breaking Hot Years in a Row

Recent World Temperatures Provide Strong Evidence of Climate Change

Scientists in the United States, Japan, and Britain have all confirmed that 2015 was the warmest year in average world temperature in the historical record.  This breaks the previous record temperatures of 2014. You wouldn’t really expect a record that has been around for many years to be broken two years in a row, unless something was …

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Questioning the Questioners

Examining the role of moderators in Presidential debates

On Sunday night, the three remaining candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination took the stage in South Carolina for the third Democratic primary debate. I was pleased that one of the video questions of the night asked the candidates for their plan to address climate change. Although the Democratic candidates have discussed climate change policies …

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