Disaster Law
Private Flood Protection
Private flood control is no substitute for government action.
Last week, the NY Times had a story about Verizon’s new flood barrier for its Wall Street building, which is a designated landmark. On one level, it’s a pretty cool project — a portable barrier designed to keep out the water during a hundred-year storm (plus 2-feet for storm surge plus an extra foot to …
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CONTINUE READINGBenevolent Paternalism or “Tough Love”?: Two Approaches for Adapting to Climate Change
Homeowners in coastal Queens, NY are outraged that their home insurance rates are going to rise sharply. Some are threatening not to buy such insurance. Such individuals must be betting that they will be “too big to fail” and that some future benevolent government official will bail them out with FEMA $ when the next …
CONTINUE READINGAdaptation to Increased Fire Risk in the South West
Read this WSJ article and you will see some “small ball” optimism about adapting to increased fire risk. Permit me to quote one wise retired professor; “Paul Ohlenbusch, a 73-year-old former professor, lives in a retirement community north of Austin, Texas, an area plagued by drought for several years. To protect his home from possible …
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CONTINUE READINGNinth Circuit Rejects Water Agency’s “Area of Origin” Water Rights Claim
Responding to the current drought conditions confronting California, state and federal water project officials have announced cutbacks in anticipated water deliveries this summer and fall from both the Central Valley Project (CVP) and State Water Project. It’s with that sobering backdrop that a recent decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit …
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CONTINUE READINGNot Enough Money in the Pipeline
When regulators approve rates for a utility such as Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E), they are making their best guess as to how much money the company will need to cover various kinds of activities. The utility starts out the process by offering its position on how much it will need for things like …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council’s “Draft Comprehensive Plan for Restoring the Gulf Coast’s Ecosystem and Economy” does not actually include any restoration projects.
Everyone knows that life is just a little bit slower in the South; as it turns out, so is ecosystem restoration. On this date three years ago, you likely were continuing to monitor distressing television footage of the Deepwater Horizon/BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, wondering if the millions of barrels of oil …
CONTINUE READINGWe Have Met the Unknown Unknowns and They are Us
There are uncertainties about climate science such as tipping points and feedback effects. But these pale in comparison to the biggest source of uncertainties: people. Here are some of the major things we don’t know and really can’t know about future society: Will economic growth continue, and if so, how quickly and how uniformly? Richer …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Economics of Insurance in the Face of Climate Change
Eduardo Porter offers a “teachable moment” thanks to his NY Times Business piece on insurance today. He writes a piece arguing that for profit “conservative” firms have a stake in fighting climate change. While I want this logic to be correct, an academic might ask whether it is correct. The insurance industry makes …
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CONTINUE READINGExxon Cares!
At this point, we don’t know much about Exxon’s oil spill near Mayflower, Arkansas — especially because Exxon doesn’t seem to want to let many people look at what’s going on. Twitter to the rescue! There’s an account called “Exxon Cares”, telling you all that you need to know, and…what’s that you say? That’s not …
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CONTINUE READINGPoll Shows Vast Majority of Americans Favor Sea-Level Rise Adaptation. Now, Time to Start Planning.
Stanford University’s Woods Institute for the Environment and the Center for Ocean Solutions recently released the results of a survey finding that the majority of Americans favor proactive sea-level rise adaptation actions. According to the survey results (margin of error: +/- 4.9% at the 95 percent confidence level), 82 percent of the Americans surveyed said …
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