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Climate Change

The Nuisance Suits Heat Up: Fifth Circuit Follows Connecticut v. AEP

Well, I didn’t expect this one. The Fifth Circuit, in Comer v. Murphy Oil Co., has agreed to follow the Second Circuit by construing Massachusetts v. EPA’s standing holding very broadly. It has allowed a class action by private plaintiffs on a common-law public nuisance claim, for damages occurring from greenhouse gas emissions, to move …

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Why You Should Worry About Climate Change Even If You Don’t Think It Is Going To Happen

Even if you think that carbon emissions won’t cause uncertainty, you should think seriously about hedging that bet.

Environmental “Poetry” (Yet Again)

There once was a coal company, Which fought cap-and-trade mightily. “Costs too much,” they complained, “Emissions can’t be contained, Or our profits will face jeopardy.” There once was a scientist (or two), Whose work couldn’t pass peer review: “It’s all cosmic rays, Or perhaps high-level haze, Or something else besides plain CO2.”

Optimism on a Climate Bill?

At least, optimism seems to be the White House message, according to a TPM report: On Friday the president urged speed in the broader shift in U.S. energy priorities and said he believed lawmakers — many of whom are skeptical of the energy bill — are following. “It is a transformation that will be made …

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More Environmental “Poetry”

A couple of ditties sent to us by some friends: There once was a climate denier Who said, “Let the carbon go higher. From the facts let us run, ‘Cause coal’s cheap by the ton, And who cares if the planet’s on fire?” There once was a man named Inhofe, Whose knowledge of science was …

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Two Important New Papers About Climate Policy

The latest issue of Science has two key papers on climate policy. First, Tim Searchinger, Dan Kammen (a faculty member at ERG), and others argue that an accounting exemption for bioenergy that appears in the Kyoto Protocol, the European carbon trading scheme and draft legislation on Capitol Hill treats all biofuels as “carbon neutral” even …

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UCLA Journal of Environmental Law and Policy launches new website, publishes climate policy issue

Forgive me for a little boasting about our great student-run environmental law journal, which has just launched a new website with downloadable content and published a terrific, policy-oriented issue (together with the Emmett Center) with lessons from state leaders across the country on tackling climate change. The issue focuses on how states are addressing the climate …

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New GAO Report on Adaptation

GAO has released an important report on adaptation. This is a subject that is just beginning to get the attention it deserves. Key findings: The challenges faced by federal, state, and local officials in their efforts to adapt fell into three categories, based on GAO’s analysis of questionnaire results, site visits, and available studies. First, …

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Saving the Polar Bear: The Saga Continues

Follow-up: Greenwire now (Oct. 22) has more details: The Obama administration today proposed protecting more than 200,000 square miles in Alaska as critical habitat for the polar bear — an area the administration said would be the largest the government has ever put forward in a bid to protect an imperiled species. The Interior Department’s …

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The Kivalina Climate Change Lawsuit: Wrong Is Right

As Holly noted the other day, Judge Saundra Brown Armstrong of the Northern District of California has thrown out the Kivalina tribe’s climate change lawsuit against big oil and coal producers. Was she right to do so? The answer, I think, is yes — but for procedural, not substantive reasons. Judge Armstrong’s argument that the …

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Climate Policy and the Audacity of Hope

The barriers are still huge — but we can also envision a path to success.

LGBTQ People Face Greater Climate Risks

A new study by the UCLA Williams Institute finds that LGBTQ people in same-sex couples are at greater risk of exposure to the harms of climate change compared to straight couples.

Why the New Climate Reg for Coal is a Perfectly Normal EPA Rule

EPA’s approach isn’t a novel innovation. It’s just EPA applying its usual approach.

EPA’s New Power Plant Rules Have Dropped. What Happens Next?

Media battles. Lawsuits. Stay requests. And political mayhem.

We Need a True Debate Over Income-Graduated Fixed Charges

A state bill to cap the fixed charges utilities can collect in California would shut down an important debate about equity and rate design. Here’s a better way forward.

Could Trump Cancel the IRA?

Probably not. But also possibly yes.

Climate Action for Earth Day

“We have a long way to go, but we’ve started down the path.” I asked my UCLA Emmett Institute colleagues what climate actions give them hope on Earth Day. Here’s how they answered.

A New Era for Protecting Public Lands

The Bureau of Land Management has always prioritized extraction activities. Now the agency has announced a rule that could elevate conservation.

Don’t Count Your Judicial Vultures Before They Hatch

The conservative Supreme Court majority may turn out as bad as we fear. Or maybe not.

Filling in the Picture: The Latest From Kennedy about Climate

Here’s what Kennedy says about his campaign, its effect on the race, and climate change.

California Wins Major Clean Air Act/Climate Change Case in D.C. Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals Rejects Red States’ Challenge to California’s CAA “Waiver Authority”

U.S. Supreme Court Revisits, Tightens Regulatory Takings Limits on Land Use Regulation

California Homeowner’s Takings Challenge to County’s Traffic Impact Fee Heads Back to State Court

The ‘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.

Ranking the Candidates’ Focus on Energy & Climate

Some campaign websites mention these issues only in passing. Others went into more detail.

No, EVs are Not Worse for the Planet

There’s an electric car culture war raging. It doesn’t hurt to say obvious things, like that electric cars reduce driving costs and pollute far less than gas-powered cars.

A 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.

Power of the People: Environmental Advocacy in China

Several of China’s most prominent environmental advocates will join a keynote talk at UCLA Law on the role of civil society in addressing China’s global environmental impacts.

Climate Change

TRENDING

The barriers are still huge — but we can also envision a path to success.

A new study by the UCLA Williams Institute finds that LGBTQ people in same-sex couples are at greater risk of exposure to the harms of climate change compared to straight couples.

EPA’s approach isn’t a novel innovation. It’s just EPA applying its usual approach.

Media battles. Lawsuits. Stay requests. And political mayhem.

A state bill to cap the fixed charges utilities can collect in California would shut down an important debate about equity and rate design. Here’s a better way forward.

Probably not. But also possibly yes.

“We have a long way to go, but we’ve started down the path.” I asked my UCLA Emmett Institute colleagues what climate actions give them hope on Earth Day. Here’s how they answered.

The Bureau of Land Management has always prioritized extraction activities. Now the agency has announced a rule that could elevate conservation.

The conservative Supreme Court majority may turn out as bad as we fear. Or maybe not.

Here’s what Kennedy says about his campaign, its effect on the race, and climate change.

U.S. Court of Appeals Rejects Red States’ Challenge to California’s CAA “Waiver Authority”

California Homeowner’s Takings Challenge to County’s Traffic Impact Fee Heads Back to State Court

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.

Some campaign websites mention these issues only in passing. Others went into more detail.

There’s an electric car culture war raging. It doesn’t hurt to say obvious things, like that electric cars reduce driving costs and pollute far less than gas-powered cars.

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.

Several of China’s most prominent environmental advocates will join a keynote talk at UCLA Law on the role of civil society in addressing China’s global environmental impacts.

Here’s what Kennedy says about his campaign, its effect on the race, and climate change.

The conservative Supreme Court majority may turn out as bad as we fear. Or maybe not.

The Bureau of Land Management has always prioritized extraction activities. Now the agency has announced a rule that could elevate conservation.