AI Archives - Legal Planet

Paying More to Stay Cool, Super El Niño, Solar Politics

Close-up of a metal ventilation fan grille on an industrial air conditioning or cooling unit, with sunlight creating a blue and orange gradient across the surface.

The Drain is a roundup of climate and environmental news from Legal Planet.

Every time I walk by my mailbox these days I dread receiving my electricity bill for this summer, because it’s been hellishly hot and I know our bill is going to be higher than usual. I try to tell myself the good news: After installing an energy-efficient heat pump this year, our home has been …

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Should we be data center YIMBYs?

Photo by Geoffrey Moffett on Unsplash

Nobody likes data centers. Still, banning them in blue states alone may be a bad idea.

Monterey Park is not often called the New York of California, but the city resembles New York—the state, that is—in one big way: Both have passed moratoria on data center development. When Monterey Park passed its ban in 2025, it was the first municipality in California to do so. Nationwide, however, hundreds of localities have …

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A Tariff on Data Centers Could Help Them Pay Their Fair Share

An overhead view of a data center in a the middle of a pretty rural scene as the sun sets.

chaddavis.photography via flickr

The first in our new “Energy Corner” series, this post looks at how California could design a rate structure for large load customers to join the electric grid without burdening ratepayers.

A flurry of new comments was filed last month in Pacific Gas & Electric’s (PG&E) proposal to implement a new electric tariff bill, one specific to large-load customers (read: data centers). Such tariffs determine the electricity rates a utility can charge each class of customer, and the conditions under which it must provide service. PG&E’s …

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A.I. Pollution in the Air — and the Public Comments

On a red background someone holds up a megaphone that blasts out envelopes representing messages.

The Drain is a weekly roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.

Artificial intelligence has already replaced some artists, translators, and podcast hosts. Now it’s coming for… concerned citizens? That’s right. AI-assisted campaigns have started flooding the inbox of government agencies that seek to engage with the public. Do you remember last June when the South Coast Air Quality Management District Board killed two common sense clean …

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The Winners and Losers of Superbowl LX

A North American football sits on grass marked in white lines.

The Seattle Seahawks came out on top at Sunday’s big game, but consumers and the environment joined the New England Patriots in the “losers” column.

Like millions of others around the world, I spent Sunday eating fried foods, drinking sugary beverages, and enjoying the company of my friends while watching the opposite of a nail-biter of a game. As a fan of the Seattle Seahawks and a hater of the New England Patriots, I’ll admit that I was delighted with …

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Climate policy is changing rapidly. Stay in the loop with expert analysis via email Monday - Friday.

The Drain is a roundup of climate and environmental news from Legal Planet delivered to your Inbox once a week.

More on BACA and data centers

Considering the arguments in a recent op-ed arguing Prop 45 does not cover data centers

UCLA Law Clinics File Brief in the “Mecheros” Case

UCLA’s Human Rights Litigation Clinic and Environmental Law Clinic represent experts in a long-running case that seeks to stop harmful gas flaring in Ecuador.

The Overlooked Fast Track for Cutting Planetary Warming

Guest contributors V. Ram Ramanathan, Durwood Zaelke, and Marcelo Suárez-Orozco write that we can cut the rate of warming by 30% to 50% within 15 years. “And we must.”

What Explains Trump’s Energy Policy?

There’s no plausible economic explanation. It’s all about politics.

The Polluter-Pays Principle and Its Enemies

An essay by Alejandro Camacho and Robert L. Glicksman on corporate fraud, weaponizing preemption, and the survival of climate accountability.

The EPA Power Plant Rule Repeal Don’t Make No Sense

The Drain is a roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.

The Bottleneck in Forest Monitoring Isn’t in Orbit

Groups on the frontlines fighting deforestation are held back by institutional constraints – not just technological barriers – according to a new study from UCLA, NYU, World Resources Institute, and the Governors’ Climate and Forests Task Force.

AI

The Drain is a roundup of climate and environmental news from Legal Planet.

Nobody likes data centers. Still, banning them in blue states alone may be a bad idea.

The first in our new “Energy Corner” series, this post looks at how California could design a rate structure for large load customers to join the electric grid without burdening ratepayers.

The Drain is a weekly roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.

The Seattle Seahawks came out on top at Sunday’s big game, but consumers and the environment joined the New England Patriots in the “losers” column.

Join Our Mailing List

Climate policy is changing rapidly. Stay in the loop with expert analysis via email Monday - Friday.

The Drain is a roundup of climate and environmental news from Legal Planet delivered to your Inbox once a week.

TRENDING

The Drain is a roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.

Whenever he wants to roll back environmental protections, Trump cooks up a new national security justification.

Some big environmental battles are brewing in Sacramento. But where will the next Governor stand?

UCLA’s Human Rights Litigation Clinic and Environmental Law Clinic represent experts in a long-running case that seeks to stop harmful gas flaring in Ecuador.

The state has decided to allow experimental drugs to be used on anyone who can pay for them.

Guest contributors V. Ram Ramanathan, Durwood Zaelke, and Marcelo Suárez-Orozco write that we can cut the rate of warming by 30% to 50% within 15 years. “And we must.”

A new study reveals the pervasiveness of academic groupthink — with warnings for environmental scholars

There’s no plausible economic explanation. It’s all about politics.

An essay by Alejandro Camacho and Robert L. Glicksman on corporate fraud, weaponizing preemption, and the survival of climate accountability.

The Drain is a roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.

Considering the arguments in a recent op-ed arguing Prop 45 does not cover data centers

UCLA’s Human Rights Litigation Clinic and Environmental Law Clinic represent experts in a long-running case that seeks to stop harmful gas flaring in Ecuador.

Guest contributors V. Ram Ramanathan, Durwood Zaelke, and Marcelo Suárez-Orozco write that we can cut the rate of warming by 30% to 50% within 15 years. “And we must.”

There’s no plausible economic explanation. It’s all about politics.

An essay by Alejandro Camacho and Robert L. Glicksman on corporate fraud, weaponizing preemption, and the survival of climate accountability.

The Drain is a roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.

Groups on the frontlines fighting deforestation are held back by institutional constraints – not just technological barriers – according to a new study from UCLA, NYU, World Resources Institute, and the Governors’ Climate and Forests Task Force.

Not quite, but the combination of the Trump Admin and Prop 45 will drastically reduce protections.

If Proposition 45 is passed, you may get blindsided by projects you cannot stop. You may want to prepare yourself.

As Gov. Gavin Newsom’s term ends, these two bills present an opportunity to promote ratepayer affordability.