Climate Change

Some (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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The 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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Integrating 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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The 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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Why 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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U.S. Agricultural Policy, Climate Change, and Existing Legal Authority

New research from Berkeley Law finds that the U.S. Department of Agriculture can act now to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is much in the news these days, as it implements the massive and always-controversial farm bill, works to improve access to national forests, strives to enhance the U.S. position in international agriculture markets, and wrestles to contain this season’s extensive wildfire activity. What is less obvious to many is …

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Water and Climate Change, Backwards

Will Conserving Water Contribute to Global Warming?

All of us (except Republicans and adherents of Movement Conservatism) know that climate change is dangerous for rising temperatures, but also because of its effects on other natural resources.  Most significantly, it is hardly news that increasing and variable temperatures will reduce, for example, the Sierra snow pack and cause greater evaporation, eventually leading to …

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Hydrogen “Fool” Cells Vs. Electric Vehicles

The debate over the best clean vehicle technology

California recently committed to spending $50 million on 28 public hydrogen fuel cell charging stations, throwing gasoline (bad pun) on the fire of a growing debate: electric vehicles vs, hydrogen fuel cells as the carbon-free vehicle technology of the future. California policy makers seem to think it may be both, based on their spending to …

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Back in the Fast Lane

New Pritzker Brief from UCLA Law on Making Public Transit Work

Fellow blogger Ethan Elkind has spent a lot of time researching the history, politics, and future of transit in California.  Earlier this year he published Railtown, a fascinating portrait of the fight over development of the L.A. Metro rail system, revealing the degree to which that development has been driven by good old-fashioned politics and even intrigue …

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Mining for Votes In Coal States: Paul Ryan On Climate Change

Whatever you think of his budget proposals, his climate views are irresponsible.

For years, Paul Krugman has been decrying Paul Ryan’s reputation as a reputable analyst of budget issues.  That’s not my area of expertise, and I’m agnostic on that issue.  But Ryan’s views about climate change don’t bespeak serious thought about the issues. The Christian Science Monitor reports that last Ryan spoke about climate change in …

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