Climate Change
Climate Strike in Los Angeles This Friday, November 1
Youth-led event on November 1 at Los Angeles City Hall will feature Greta Thunberg
This Friday, November 1, climate activist Greta Thunberg will join local youth organizers for a Climate Strike at Los Angeles City Hall from 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Event details are available on Action Network and Facebook. Climate change is a “wildfire multiplier” in California, with warming temperatures drying out vegetation and increasing risk of …
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CONTINUE READINGLet’s Commence an Economic Retaliation Initiative Against (Some) Automakers
Influencing Public Policy Through Individual & Collective Purchasing Decisions
At the risk of piling on, let me offer my own thoughts–and a specific proposal–regarding yesterday’s decision by General Motors, Fiat Chrysler, Toyota and the automakers’ trade organization to intervene in support of the Trump Administration in California’s recently-filed litigation challenging the feds’ attempted revocation of California’s Clean Air Act waiver. Legal Planet colleagues Ann …
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CONTINUE READINGLooking Into USDOJ’s Lawsuit To Dismantle the California-Quebec Greenhouse Gas Cap-and-Trade Linkage Program
While DOJ Says It “Didn’t Consult With The White House,” There Are Clues the Case Is Politically-Motivated
My colleagues Ann Carlson and Cara Horowitz wrote last week about the Trump administration Department of Justice’s lawsuit against the California Air Resources Board, the Western Climate Initiative, and various California-based officials of both, claiming California is unlawfully trying to engage in foreign policy through its greenhouse gas cap-and-trade program’s linkage with Quebec. There appear …
CONTINUE READINGLet’s Get One Thing Straight
The waiver preemption lawsuit isn’t about one national fuel economy standard.
As Ann wrote yesterday, the Association of Global Automakers and the auto companies General Motors, Toyota, and Fiat Chrysler have stated their intent to intervene in pending litigation challenging the Trump administration’s rule to preempt California’s Advanced Clean Cars program, and any future tailpipe greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards the state and others might seek …
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CONTINUE READINGGeneral Motors Can’t Have It Both Ways
Several media outlets are reporting that General Motors, Toyota, and Fiat Chrysler are intervening on the side of the Trump Administration in California’s lawsuit challenging the federal government’s yanking of the state’s permission to issue its own tailpipe standards for greenhouse gases and to require zero emissions vehicles. (Cara described the lawsuit here. Julia and …
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CONTINUE READINGCan Soils Solve Climate Change?
Another dubious claim of natural climate solutions makes the rounds
A few months ago, I questioned a claim that planting trees could solve climate change. According to some scientists, reforestation “is by far the cheapest solution that has ever been proposed,” and for $300 billion it could sequester 200 gigatons of carbon (GtC, or 733 GtCO2). Many media outlets swooned, but the assertions were weak …
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CONTINUE READINGA Dozen Strategies for the Struggle With Big Oil
Big Oil will fight against energy transformation. How do we fight back?
The oil industry is enormous – something like 2-3% of global GDP. Individuals firms like ExxonMobil earn tens of billions of dollars each quarter. Controlling climate change will mean drastic curtailment in the coming decades of the industry’s major products. There’s no way that the industry will accept this lying down, and it’s a formidable …
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CONTINUE READINGSpotlight on San Antonio
The role of transparency in municipal climate plans
Last week, San Antonio’s City Council approved its first-ever Climate Action and Adaptation Plan. This Plan’s main benefit is its ability to track and measure GHG emissions, while also signaling to City agencies, other municipalities, and the state that it is committed to climate mitigation and adaptation efforts. This is a big win for a …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Risks of Promising the Improbable
Candidates’ climate proposals are starkly unrealistic. That’s a problem.
As I wrote in a post last Thursday, there’s little prospect that anything like a Green New Deal could pass the Senate even assuming the filibuster is eliminated. In the best case scenario, Democrats would have a one or two vote margin in the Senate. That’s a very slim margin for passing a trillion dollar …
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CONTINUE READINGHow Can We Achieve a Carbon-Neutral Transportation Sector by 2050?
Developments from a hearing before the House Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change
Today, the Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce held a hearing entitled “Building a 100 Percent Clean Economy: Solutions For Planes, Trains and Everything Beyond Automobiles.” As the title suggests, the Subcommittee’s hearing sought to probe opportunities to decarbonize the transportation sector while focusing on modes of …
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