Climate Change
Climate Change and Nigeria
A population explosion. Sluggish economy. Weak governance. Serious climate impacts. What could possibly go wrong?
By the time my youngest granddaughter is thirty, Nigeria will be the world’s third-largest country. It’s also one of the countries that’s least prepared to adapt to climate change, which will be much worse by then. Nigeria’s population is expected to roughly double by 2050, to around 400 million. The population was previously expected to …
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CONTINUE READINGA Total Eclipse of the Heat
The eclipse mania gripping U.S. media and the entire nation is an opportunity to gaze in awe at the climate crisis we’ve unleashed and talk about our collective response.
Millions of Americans traveled this week to the path of totality to hunker down with loved ones and total strangers to gaze upwards at one of the most amazing astronomical events of our lives and share something like a transcendent, spiritual experience. I hope we can collectively reckon with another terrifyingly awesome atmospheric event: the …
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CONTINUE READINGRanking the Candidates’ Focus on Energy & Climate
Some campaign websites mention these issues only in passing. Others went into more detail.
I thought it would be helpful to provide some kind of objective measure of how much various candidates focus on energy and climate. I based this on how extensively they discuss these issues on their websites. By this ranking, Biden came in first — surprisingly, ahead of progressives Jill Stein and Cornel West. Also surprisingly, …
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CONTINUE READINGThe ‘Year of Climate’ in International Courts
Guest contributor Rebecca Hamilton previews several opinions that touch on the question of the international legal obligations of States in light of the climate emergency.
“The Year of Climate in International Courts” by guest contributor Rebecca Hamilton was originally published on Just Security This year promises to be the ‘Year of Climate’ in international courts and tribunals with opinions slated to be coming down from the European Court of Human Rights, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the International Tribunal …
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CONTINUE READINGRipped from the Headlines
This is not, unfortunately, an April Fool’s joke. Not at all.
Here’s a selection of recent headlines, which I only wish I had made up for April Fool’s Day. “Earth just had its hottest year ever recorded — by far.” — NBC “Hurricanes are getting so intense, scientists propose a Category 6”— Washington Post “Parts of Amazon rainforest could tip toward collapse by 2050, study warns.” …
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CONTINUE READINGFlorida is a Climate-Denying Hellscape
Florida lawmakers want to erase climate change from their laws and ban local heat protection ordinances ahead of what could be another summer of record-breaking heat.
Take the latest, science-backed climate policies that are gaining traction in state houses around the country — and then do the exact opposite. That seems to be the Florida playbook for dealing with the climate crisis facing Floridians in the form of rising sea levels and deadly temperatures. This legislative session, state lawmakers in the …
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CONTINUE READINGNew Bill Takes Up Local Oil Drilling Phase-Outs
Oil and gas interests want to weaponize new case law from the California Supreme Court. AB 3233 would clarify the scope of local authority over drilling operations.
When the California Supreme Court ruled last August that Monterey County could not enforce its voter-approved ban on new oil and gas wells, lawyers for Chevron said the company was “pleased” to end the 7 years of litigation. Monterey County is home to the eighth-largest oil field in California, so there was plenty at stake …
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CONTINUE READINGThe New EPA Car Rule Doesn’t Violate the Major Questions Doctrine
They both relate to climate, but West Virginia v. EPA involved a very different regulation raising very different issues.
In West Virginia v. EPA, the Supreme Court struck down the Obama-era Clean Power Plan. The heart of the ruling was that EPA had engaged in a power grab, basing an unprecedented expansion of its regulatory authority on an obscure provision of the statute. Conservative groups have claimed since then that virtually every government regulation …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Changing Politics of Coal
Coal has gone from a national conservative rallying cry to a niche state concern.
The “War Against Coal” was a major conservative theme eight years ago. Now it seems almost forgotten even by Donald Trump, who was once coal’s caped crusader. But although protecting coal production is no longer much of a national issue, keeping coal-fired power plants open has percolated as an issue at the state level. It …
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CONTINUE READINGCritical Insights on the Mineral Boom
In the race for critical minerals, the challenges, tradeoffs, and potential winners are becoming clear. Insights from the Emmett Institute’s “Powering the Future” symposium.
A couple hundred miles north of the Las Vegas strip at Rhyolite Ridge you’ll find a dusty yellow wildflower called Tiehm’s buckwheat that grows nowhere else in the world. But this flower sits atop a massive, untapped lithium reserve that would help the U.S. transition to cleaner energy. Now, what if you had to choose …
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