Climate Change

Court issues final ruling in AB 32 challenge — enjoins implementation of AB 32 scoping plan pending CEQA fixes

On Friday, a California superior court judge handed down his decision in the challenge, brought by environmental justice advocates, to the state’s implementation of AB 32, California’s landmark Global Warming Solutions Act. The decision is available here.  More analysis to come.  On first read, the decision looks very similar to the tentative decision issued by the …

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Melting the Ice

Real Climate has an informative post on melting in Greenland and Antarctica, which seems to be higher than projected by the last IPCC report.  This could add about another 15 cm (about six inches)  to sea level rise by the end of the century: [A]t the continental scale, there is a new assessment of the …

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Climate Change Impacts in China

The received wisdom used to be that climate change would have relatively little impact on China.  But that views seems outdated. Like the United States, China is large and geographically diverse; as such, the impacts of climate change vary across the country. For example, the Chinese government reports that the “frequency of heat waves in …

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Not even NASA rockets are cooperating with climate scientists these days

I heard renowned climate scientist Dr. James Hansen speak at UCLA last week, and one of his key messages was that we need to get a better handle on the importance and effect of aerosols on the Earth’s warming.   He was quite excited about the launch of a new NASA satellite that would gather data to tell …

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The question of triage

The latest Delta report issued by the Public Policy Institute of California goes well beyond the Delta. Titled Managing California’s Water: From Conflict to Resolution, the report takes on the entire water management structure set up by state and federal law. There’s a lot in the report, which should be required reading for anyone interested …

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India Coal Tax to be Used for Carbon Sinks and Clean Energy Technology

This is how you are supposed to do it.  Via the Hindu, Indian Finance Minister Mukherjee’s Budget uses carbon charges to combat climate change: The [tax] slapped on coal in last year’s budget will help pay for schemes to protect and regenerate forests and clean up polluted sites announced in this year’s Budget. Finance Minister Pranab …

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Climate Change and the Pope

Obviously, I need to pay more attention to news from the Vatican, since this story is a year old: Pope Benedict XVI focused his annual address to ambassadors accredited to the Vatican on the environment and the protection of creation. He denounced the failure of world leaders to agree to a new climate change treaty …

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Who is John Collins Rudolf? And why is he questioning the shape of the earth?

Apparently, he’s a free-lancer for the New York Times, a generally straight-up environmental reporter – and today, he is Ken Cuccinelli’s publicist. Cuccinelli is Virginia’s wingnut attorney general, who has decided to make a name for himself by filing baseless lawsuits against climate scientists, running to the courthouse before the ink was even dry on …

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A New Thought on Smart Growth

The Public Policy Institute of California just released its new report on SB 375, California’s smart growth law.  I’m still working my way through it, and at the beginning, it seems pretty boilerplate.  For example, it notes that three things California can do to reduce emissions are “Higher-density development, particularly in areas well-served by transit; …

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Preview of Coming Attractions: American Electric Power v. State of Connecticut

The U.S. Supreme Court recently announced the scheduling of oral arguments in the biggest (actually, the only) environmental case of its current Term: American Electric Power v. State of Connecticut. The justices will hear arguments on April 19th, and render their decision in this major climate change case by the end of June. Already, however, …

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