Climate Change
Guest Blogger David Schraub: Vermont Environmentalists File FTC Challenge over “Double-Counting” RECs
David Schraub is the Darling Foundation Fellow in Public Law at the University of California Berkeley School of Law. Represented by Patrick A. Parenteau and Douglas A. Ruley of the Vermont Law School’s Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic, four Vermont residents have petitioned the FTC to investigate alleged misleading marketing practices by Green Mountain …
CONTINUE READINGA Roadmap for State Comments on the Clean Power Plan
Considerations for State Regulators Tackling EPA’s §111(d) Proposed Rule
Yesterday, EPA announced its decision to extend the comment period on the Clean Power Plan—the agency’s proposed rule to regulate power plant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions under Clean Air Act § 111(d)—until December 1, 2014. The comment period was originally scheduled to last 120 days, until October 16th. You can find a list of compiled …
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CONTINUE READINGUCLA / UC Berkeley Law Report On Harvesting Electric Vehicle Batteries For Grid Storage
Joint law school report will be discussed at a webinar on Friday at 10am
As I blogged about last week, California and the nation may have a golden opportunity to harvest used electric vehicle batteries for inexpensive energy storage. These repurposed batteries can be stacked for bulk storage to absorb surplus renewable energy for cloudy and dark windless times. They can save ratepayers money, clean the grid, and potentially …
CONTINUE READINGLos Angeles Heat Waves, Electricity Use and Climate Change
It is 102 degrees in Los Angeles as I write this. Not in the San Fernando Valley or in the communities east of Los Angeles whose temperatures are regularly several degrees higher but in downtown Los Angeles. We’re in record heat territory and way above historical averages. But temperatures aren’t the only records that are …
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CONTINUE READINGGroundwater Management Lite for California
New State Groundwater Legislation a Key Step Forward, But No Immediate Fix or Long-Term Panacea
The California Legislature, in the waning hours of its 2014 session, enacted legislation creating a first-ever statewide system of groundwater management. The three-bill package (SB 1168 [Pavley]; SB 1319 [Pavley]; and AB 1719 [Dickinson]) is expected to be signed into law by California Governor Jerry Brown before the end of this month, and will take …
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CONTINUE READINGSome (sort of) good news on sea level rise
Reef growth may be able to keep pace with climate change, keeping island nations above water
That sea level rise driven by global warming will soon make low-lying island nations uninhabitable has been widely publicized and readily accepted. In 2009, then-President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives held a cabinet meeting underwater in full scuba gear to raise global awareness of the threat of climate change. (The underwater meeting later became the …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Wonders of Denialisms
Are there no limits to the human capacity to deny scientific facts?
If you’re inclined to doubt science, why not start with the germ theory of disease? After all, isn’t it implausible that illness, death, and even mass epidemics are caused by tiny invisible organisms that invade our bodies? And what’s the evidence for that, really? Just the findings of scientists who can get big grants from …
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CONTINUE READINGIntegrating Climate Mitigation and Adaptation, or: I’m in BIG Trouble
Don’t Try This At Home
A couple of weeks ago, I noted in a discussion of water and climate change, that in many cases, seeking to adapt to climate change effects might actually wind up undermining efforts to mitigate it. My example was lining irrigation canals, but there are lots of them out there. I began to think “Gosh. There …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Emergence of Climate Law Courses
It’s an increasingly widespread law school course.
The U.S. legal system has only begun to address climate change in the past ten or fifteen years. It was inevitable that this subject would infiltrate basic environmental law courses, especially given that there have now been three Supreme Court cases on the subject. But climate change is now increasingly the subject of separate courses …
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CONTINUE READINGWhy Michael Mann’s Defamation Suit Against Climate Denialists Is the Right Move
With the facts on his side, there’s no reason to hide
Dr. Michael Mann, one of the country’s leading climate scientists, has been harassed, threatened, and berated for his views that human actions are contributing to global climate change. But not just from anonymous commenters on websites — from leading publications like the National Review Online. After being compared to Jerry Sandusky and having the credibility …
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