Climate Change
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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CONTINUE READINGUCLA 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 …
CONTINUE READINGNew 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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CONTINUE READINGSaving 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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CONTINUE READINGThe 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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CONTINUE READINGAdapting to Climate Change? Should the States or the Feds Take the Lead?
A great deal of attention has been devoted to federalism issues relating to climate change mitigation. In contrast, the federalism dimension of adaptation has only begun to receive attention. Regardless of mitigation efforts, however, it is clear that society will experience substantial climate impacts and that major adaptation efforts will be required. What roles should …
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CONTINUE READINGKivalina nuisance suit dismissed
As Jonathan noted (here and here) last month, after a lengthy delay, the 2d Circuit ruled that a public nuisance suit brought by states and environmental groups against major power producers based on their greenhouse gas emissions did not pose a non-justiciable political question, and that the plaintiffs had standing. That ruling has obviously not …
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CONTINUE READINGBad climate news round-up
Sometimes it’s hard to be an optimist. The recent climate news all seems ominous: Sciencereports (subscription required) on the latest paper in press from a satellite-based study of the mass of ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica. Isabella Velicogna of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory finds that both ice sheets shrank at accelerating rates over the …
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CONTINUE READINGMore on the Bush-era greenhouse gas endangerment recommendation
The release of documents discussed in Holly’s post ends the story of one of the more ridiculous of the last Administration’s unceasing efforts to delay climate change regulation. Scientists and policymakers at EPA had concluded that greenhouse gases were a danger to the public and should be regulated under the Clean Air Act. They sent an email, …
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CONTINUE READINGEPA releases Bush-era endangerment finding
UPDATE: Cara has more here, including a link to the draft that does not require a subscription. In Dec. 2007, EPA was ready to issue a proposed finding under the Clean Air Act that greenhouse gas pollution endangers public welfare. E&E News has now obtained a copy of the draft proposal (subscription required) through a …
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