Culture & Ethics
Scholastic, Inc. publishes pro-coal curriculum for fourth graders, apparently paid for by coal industry
Yesterday, I wrote about a satirical campaign in which anti-coal activists spoofed a Peabody Energy website in order to publicize the link between burning coal and childhood asthma. The satirical campaign included fake child-oriented games and discounted asthma inhalers. But all satire aside, the coal industry really is marketing its product directly to children. The …
CONTINUE READINGAnti-coal satire (with My First Inhaler) punks Peabody Energy
Peabody Energy — last seen on this blog as the real party in interest whose proposal to mine more coal on Indian land in Arizona had to go back to the drawing board because of this UCLA environmental law clinic case , and immortalized in the John Prine song “Paradise” — has been punked. (I’ve …
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CONTINUE READINGThe High Speed Rail Sacramento Smack-Down
California has been going about planning high speed rail all wrong, and Sacramento appears to be taking notice. Yesterday, the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) released a report recommending major changes in the way California implements high speed rail. In addition to a complete reorganization of the governing structure of the High Speed Rail Authority, …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Official Produce of Legal Planet
Wandering in my local supermarket the other day, I came across a special for “Local Organic Cara Cara Oranges.” No misprint: two Caras are required. Hmmm… local, organic, and Cara. That’s it! They named it after my co-blogger. Obviously, it should have some official status. Note that I am making an admission against interest …
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CONTINUE READINGParking, Infill, and Affordable Housing
The Infill Builders’ parking bill that I blogged about this morning just passed unanimously out of the Assembly Local Government committee this afternoon, overcoming perhaps its biggest hurdle to ultimate passage. Although one would expect local governments to oppose a state bill that limits their ability to demand excessive parking for transit-oriented development, opposition to …
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CONTINUE READINGInfill Builders at the State Capitol
Part of my work with UC Berkeley and UCLA involves gathering business leaders to discuss opportunities presented by climate change policies. In the case of real estate development, the common refrain from sustainable developers seems to be to tell government to get out of their way and let them build more walkable, mixed-use communities around …
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CONTINUE READINGCan Six-year-olds Understand the Tragedy of the Commons?
Maybe not. But perhaps eight-year-olds can. Last Wednesday morning, I showed up for my weekly library volunteering at my daughter’s first grade class. School cutbacks meant that the librarian wasn’t there, so the teacher, another parent and I had to make do. The display was about Earth Day, since I had to find a book to read …
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CONTINUE READINGJohn Muir’s Birthday
If environmentalism had saints John Muir, born on April 21, 1838, would surely be on the list. He is best known for founding the Sierra Club and fighting to save Yosemite.
CONTINUE READINGRemembering Rachel Carson
Earth Day seems an appropriate time to recall past leaders in environmental thought. Few have played a greater role in the development of U.S. environmental law than Rachel Carson (1907-1964), whose books did much to spark the environmental movement. It is good to hear that her books have been reprinted as ebooks by Open Road …
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CONTINUE READINGU.S. House of Representatives v. Modern Science
Nature, one of the two leading scientific journals in the world, has a strongly worded editorial about the recent House hearings on climate change: At a subcommittee hearing on 14 March, anger and distrust were directed at scientists and respected scientific societies. Misinformation was presented as fact, truth was twisted and nobody showed any inclination …
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