Climate Change

The Greening of South Korea

Lincoln Davies has a nice post over at Environmental Law Prof about clean energy in South Korea.  He discusses a conference relating to Korea’s planned change from a feed-in-tariff to a renewable portfolio standard as means of promoting clean energy.   Most Americans aren’t aware of this, but Korea has embraced “green growth” as a national …

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“Too Darn Hot”:The Summer of 2011 and the New Normal

DotEarth, the NY Times environmental blog, has a nice posting about how the current heat wave fits into climate-change predictions.  It seems clear that the “summer of 2011 is emblematic of the new climatological norms that are emerging as conditions neatly echo longstanding projections of the consequences of steadily raising the concentration of heat-trapping greenhouse gases.” …

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Whitebark pine in ESA limbo

Cross-posted at The Berkeley Blog. Today the Fish and Wildlife Service announced that the whitebark pine, an iconic tree of the high-elevation American west, qualifies for listing as an endangered or threatened species. The combined impacts of disease, insect infestation, climate change, and fire suppression mean that the whitebark pine could disappear within a couple …

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Frogs, Boiling Water, and Climate Change: For the Record

Catching up on my LegalPlanet reading after being gone for a couple of weeks (and who doesn’t do that first?), I noticed Dan’s post referencing the famous story about frogs not jumping out of hot water if you put them in when it’s tepid.  Referring to humanity’s inability to combat climate change, Dan asks: “are humans smarter than …

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White paper on Habitat Conservation Plans and Climate Change

Cross-posted at CPRBlog. Melinda Taylor at the University of Texas School of Law and I have just put out a white paper on Habitat Conservation Plans and Climate Change: Recommendations for Policy.  It can be accessed here through Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy and the Environment, or here through UT’s Center for Global Energy, …

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The Debt Burden on Future Generations

According to GOP.gov, [T]he amount of debt placed on the backs of children born today is about to explode. If nothing is done, our generation will have the sad legacy of being the first to lower the standard of living of the next generation. . . . Unless drastic actions are taken to reduce spending …

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A “Modest Proposal” for Ending the U.S. Debt Crisis: A Debt-Nature Swap with China

Debt-nature swaps allow countries with major debt over-hang and relatively weak economies to reduce their debt in return for undertaking environmental measures.  The U.S. now seems to be in the same need of debt relief as many developing countries in past decades.  In the meantime, the Chinese have a thriving economy and hold enormous amounts …

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So Much for California’s Anti-Sprawl Law, Ctd.

My post on the shortcomings of SB 375, California’s anti-sprawl law, generated a swift response from NRDC’s Amanda Eaken and TransForm’s Stuart Cohen, two smart growth advocates for whom I hold a lot of admiration and respect.  In their detailed post, which is largely a critique of the San Diego Association of Government’s (SANDAG) sustainable …

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Bolstering Public Transit in California: A New White Paper from UCLA / Berkeley Law

Public transit in California, while historically underfunded compared to roads and freeways, has suffered even worse as the state’s economy has tanked and Sacramento legislators have raided transit funds to pay their general fund bills.  But the buses and trains that comprise the state’s transit system provide badly needed economic benefits for Californians.  These benefits …

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A Nation of Frogs?

It is said that, if you put a frog in a pot of boiling water, it immediately jumps out and is saved.  But if you put a frog in a pot of cold water and gradually warm it, you can boil the frog without it ever realizing that it’s being cooked. It’s not hard to …

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