Ecosystems Archives - Legal Planet

Ecosystems

The Ten Most Important U.S. Environmental Laws

An image of the U.S. Capitol Building in the evening.

Some of the choices may surprise you.

What are America’s most important environmental laws? Some are familiar, such as the federal air and water pollution laws, and the Endangered Species Act. But there are other people rarely hear about — even in environmental law courses — but have done a lot to protect the environment.

The “Silver Bullet” Required to Improve California’s Water Rights System: More & Better Data

California Lags Behind Other Western States in Obtaining Critically-Needed & Available Water Diversion Data

Recently I’ve posted stories about efforts to enforce California’s water laws in the face of efforts by some diverters to evade and ignore limits on their ability to privatize public water resources–especially in times of critical drought. One post focused on the federal government’s successful criminal prosecution of a San Joaquin Valley water district manager …

Continue reading “The “Silver Bullet” Required to Improve California’s Water Rights System: More & Better Data”

Universities Gear Up to Fight Climate Change

Here are some recent developments at leading universities.

Universities across the country are making moves to better address climate change: creating new Schools of Sustainability and Climate, establishing research institutes, and appointing Vice Provosts for Climate Change to oversee their work.

NEPA in the Ninth

Can an agency just shortcut the whole process? The 9th Circuit says no.

On Wednesday, the Ninth Circuit decided a NEPA case that discusses two interesting issues. But what’s most striking isn’t what the court did discuss but what it didn’t mention : the fact that last year’s NEPA amendments speaks directly to one of those issues. Apparently the word that NEPA was extensively amended a year ago …

Continue reading “NEPA in the Ninth”

Deciphering NEPA 2.0

Here’s everything you wanted to know about the “New NEPA” but were afraid to ask.

NEPA was long an island of legal stability, standing almost unamended for over a half century. Then in the summer of 2023, everything changed. As a rider on the agreement to raise the debt ceiling, Congress extensively rewrote and expanded NEPA, gifting us with a new statutory regime. As I’ve written before — and discuss …

Continue reading “Deciphering NEPA 2.0”

Misusing Carbon Removal as a Climate Response

Carbon removal is an alluring idea. That also makes it a tempting façade for bad policies.

It seems clear that in some form, carbon removal is going to be an important component of climate policy, especially later in the century to deal with carbon levels that overshoot the targets in the Paris Climate Agreement. The problem is not with the concept but with its misuse. One of the risks that …

Continue reading “Misusing Carbon Removal as a Climate Response”

The Long Life and Sudden Demise of Federal Wetlands Protection

Here’s a timeline of events.

It’s no wonder that one EPA staffer’s reaction to the Supreme Court ruling was a single word: “Heartbroken.” In 2023, the Supreme Court ended fifty years of broad federal protection to wetlands in Sackett v. United States. It is only when you look back at the history of federal wetland regulation that you realize just …

Continue reading “The Long Life and Sudden Demise of Federal Wetlands Protection”

Emmett Institute Symposium: Powering the Future

This is a critical moment in the energy transition for plotting the course of mineral extraction, with communities and the environment in mind.

If you ever find yourself passing through southwest Montana, go visit the Berkeley Pit and contemplate resource extraction. You pay a couple bucks to a guy in a trailer; walk under some razor wire and through a long, disorienting white tunnel; then stand and stare out at the most beautiful turquoise sea of toxic …

Continue reading “Emmett Institute Symposium: Powering the Future”

Evaluating Voluntary Agreements in the Bay-Delta Watershed

Satellite image of California, centered on the Bay-Delta watershed. The Central Valley shows up prominently, with green agricultural fields rimmed by drier brown land, surrounded by mountains.

by Nell Green Nylen, Felicia Marcus, Dave Owen, and Michael Kiparsky

Updates to flow and other regulatory requirements for California’s Bay-Delta watershed are long overdue. For much of the last 12 years, state political leadership has prioritized efforts to develop voluntary agreements (VAs) with water users over completing updates to the watershed’s water quality standards. Now the State Water Resources Control Board has restarted the regulatory …

Continue reading “Evaluating Voluntary Agreements in the Bay-Delta Watershed”

Pearl Harbor Today

82 years after the attack, what is the state of the harbor?

Today is Pearl Harbor Day, the anniversary of the Japanese attack that launched the U.S. into World War II. Those of us who don’t live in Hawaii may not think much about the harbor, but I started to wonder how things were going environmentally there. The geography is more complex than I had expected. I …

Continue reading “Pearl Harbor Today”

Losing Chevron: What Does It Mean for California?

The Supreme Court’s decision in Loper Bright will not necessarily impact how California courts review our state agency determinations. But we’ll feel it in other ways.

Is Loper v. Raimondo Really the Power Grab Commentators Assume?

The Supreme Court has already grabbed power from agencies through the major questions doctrine.

The Biden-Trump Debate’s Climate Question

“You’ve vowed to end your opponent’s climate initiatives,” Trump was asked. “But will you take any action as President to slow the climate crisis?”

Grid Experts Weigh in on EPA’s Good Neighbor Plan for NOx

UCLA Emmett Institute faculty submit amicus brief in Utah v. EPA, a major ozone case, on behalf of some of the nation’s leading grid experts.

The Supreme Court & Interstate Pollution

It was puzzling that the Court agreed to hear the case. How has it ruled? And why?

The Ten Most Important U.S. Environmental Laws

Some of the choices may surprise you.

The 2023 NEPA Rewrite and the Supreme Court’s New Climate Case

NEPA isn’t a common law subject. What the statute says matters more than pre-2023 judicial opinions.

The Hawai’i Youth Climate Settlement

Thirteen youth plaintiffs secured a court-enforced agreement to decarbonize the state’s transportation system without even setting foot in a courtroom.

Luminosity

The story behind today’s energy efficient lighting and a forgotten episode in the culture wars.

Is Activism a Part of Responsible Climate Scholarship?

Academics needn’t become activists, but I argue that we must support activism. Indeed, inclusive engagement with activism could enhance our scholarship.

Financing and Investment Strategies for an Equitable Clean Mobility Transition

New CLEE / Prospect Silicon Valley report outlines top strategies from a series of expert convenings

Halftime Report: Environmental Bills Moving Forward

The UCLA Emmett Institute is tracking California environmental bills. In a year of tough budget choices, here are the notable bills that cleared Sacramento’s first big legislative deadline.

Big Oil Runs to the Supreme Court

Oil and gas companies want the justices to take up Honolulu’s climate liability case because this type of litigation is starting to gain strength.

A Brazen California Water Heist Revealed, Prosecuted & Punished

San Joaquin Valley Water District Manager Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Steal Public Water for 20+ Years

Can the IRA Trump-Proof Itself?

Building A Political Firewall Against IRA Repeal

Will Biden and Trump Debate Climate Change?

Here are 22 climate-related questions that moderators could ask Biden and Trump in the presidential debates, as well as the one question they should avoid.

Reforming California’s Financial Penalties for Water Theft Will Create an Effective Deterrent

Overdue State Water Reform Legislation Likely Be Enacted in 2024–Finally

Hillary Clinton, Climate Change, and the ‘Sliding Doors’ of History

Here’s what could have happened instead of Trump’s crusade against climate action, if Clinton had squeaked out a victory in 2016.

The Hawai’i Youth Climate Trial

Thirteen youth plaintiffs say the Aloha State is failing to live up to its ambitious climate goals. Here’s what to watch for as Navahine v. Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation goes to trial this month.

Major League Soccer’s LAFC Has a Big Oil Problem Too

The Dodgers are not the only LA sports team sullying their brand by taking oil money. Beloved soccer club LAFC recently renewed a partnership with Chevron.

Ecosystems

Some of the choices may surprise you.

California Lags Behind Other Western States in Obtaining Critically-Needed & Available Water Diversion Data

Here are some recent developments at leading universities.

Can an agency just shortcut the whole process? The 9th Circuit says no.

Here’s everything you wanted to know about the “New NEPA” but were afraid to ask.

Carbon removal is an alluring idea. That also makes it a tempting façade for bad policies.

Here’s a timeline of events.

This is a critical moment in the energy transition for plotting the course of mineral extraction, with communities and the environment in mind.

by Nell Green Nylen, Felicia Marcus, Dave Owen, and Michael Kiparsky

82 years after the attack, what is the state of the harbor?

TRENDING

The Supreme Court’s decision in Loper Bright will not necessarily impact how California courts review our state agency determinations. But we’ll feel it in other ways.

The Supreme Court has already grabbed power from agencies through the major questions doctrine.

“You’ve vowed to end your opponent’s climate initiatives,” Trump was asked. “But will you take any action as President to slow the climate crisis?”

UCLA Emmett Institute faculty submit amicus brief in Utah v. EPA, a major ozone case, on behalf of some of the nation’s leading grid experts.

It was puzzling that the Court agreed to hear the case. How has it ruled? And why?

Some of the choices may surprise you.

NEPA isn’t a common law subject. What the statute says matters more than pre-2023 judicial opinions.

Thirteen youth plaintiffs secured a court-enforced agreement to decarbonize the state’s transportation system without even setting foot in a courtroom.

The story behind today’s energy efficient lighting and a forgotten episode in the culture wars.

Academics needn’t become activists, but I argue that we must support activism. Indeed, inclusive engagement with activism could enhance our scholarship.

New CLEE / Prospect Silicon Valley report outlines top strategies from a series of expert convenings

The UCLA Emmett Institute is tracking California environmental bills. In a year of tough budget choices, here are the notable bills that cleared Sacramento’s first big legislative deadline.

Oil and gas companies want the justices to take up Honolulu’s climate liability case because this type of litigation is starting to gain strength.

San Joaquin Valley Water District Manager Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Steal Public Water for 20+ Years

Building A Political Firewall Against IRA Repeal

Here are 22 climate-related questions that moderators could ask Biden and Trump in the presidential debates, as well as the one question they should avoid.

Overdue State Water Reform Legislation Likely Be Enacted in 2024–Finally

Here’s what could have happened instead of Trump’s crusade against climate action, if Clinton had squeaked out a victory in 2016.

Thirteen youth plaintiffs say the Aloha State is failing to live up to its ambitious climate goals. Here’s what to watch for as Navahine v. Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation goes to trial this month.

The Dodgers are not the only LA sports team sullying their brand by taking oil money. Beloved soccer club LAFC recently renewed a partnership with Chevron.