Climate Change

Massachusetts’ Special Election & the Prognosis for U.S. Climate Change Legislation

Colleague Jonathan Zasloff recently opined on this site that Scott Brown’s election to the open U.S. Senate seat from Massachusetts could actually be good news when it comes to prospects for passage of federal climate change legislation. Let me file a congenial dissent to Jonathan’s prediction, though one that–like his–contains some seeds of optimism. I …

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Why Scott Brown’s Victory Helps Climate Legislation

Really.  The debacle in Massachusetts may have turned the Democrats into a bunch of sniveling, spineless wimps — or simply reaffirm their identity as such — but it might actually help climate change legislation. How?  A one-word answer: reconciliation. A budget reconciliation bill cannot be filibustered: according to the Budget Act of 1974, the Senate …

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Moving Forward With Cap-and-Trade in California

In 2006, the California Legislature enacted the Landmark Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32), which authorized–but did not compel–the California Air Resources Board to adopt a cap-and-trade program as part of a comprehensive strategy to reduce state greenhouse gas emissions. A year ago, CARB adopted its AB 32 “Scoping Plan,” in which it commits to …

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Never Underestimate California’s Idiocy

Ann thinks the neanderthals attempting to repeal AB 32 won’t get the signatures to put the thing on the ballot.  I hope she’s right, but given my general pessimism, I’d be willing to bet otherwise. Climate change regulation is like catnip to the Teabagger set.  It is a vast left-wing conspiracy to destroy capitalism and …

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Carbon Tweets

Do you twitter?  If so, you might be interested in this feature at the Washington Post, which aggregates tweets relating to climate issues.

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Campaign to Suspend AB 32 Unlikely to Go Anywhere

Last Monday, the Wall Street Journal editorialized in favor of both a bill and a newly filed ballot initiative to suspend the implementation of California’s landmark greenhouse gas emissions legislation, AB 32, until the state’s unemployment rate falls from it’s current 12+ % to under 5.5% for four consecutive quarters.   On the same day the …

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Indian Federalism and Climate Change

Federalism is a hot topic (so to speak) for scholars working on climate change, but we have so far remained resolutely at home, focusing solely on American federalism.  It’s now time to start thinking about how federalism might impact India, which has maintained a federal system for more than 60 years, and has decentralized greatly in …

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Where Do We Go After Copenhagen?

Berkeley will be holding an interdisciplinary conference of climate change experts on January 28 to sort out the aftermath of Copenhagen.  The participants will include faculty in law, political science, economics, public policy, and engineering.  For more details about the conference or to RSVP, click here.

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The Politics of Climate Change: It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over

There’s been a lot of talk about whether federal climate change legislation is dead for this session. Bradford Plummer at the New Republic makes a pretty good case that the legislation is still alive and kicking: That said, there don’t seem to be any signs that Democrats are planning to relent just yet. A few …

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The Indian Style of Climate Policy

If India ever does something about its growing carbon emissions, this is the book that tells you how it will happen.  Rob Jenkins’ Democratic Politics and Economic Reform in India is the best source I have seen so far that really gets into the guts of how the country’s political economy works.   And that’s what …

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