Energy
New Bill Targets Carbon Dioxide Pipeline Leaks
Legislation introduced by Assemblymember Arambula, with research help from UCLA students, aims to protect Californians from the dangers of transporting captured carbon dioxide.
Guest contributor Jennifer Imm is a J.D. Candidate at UCLA Law (2L) Last week, Assemblymember Dr. Joaquin Arambula introduced AB 2623, a bill designed to guard California communities against the dangers of transporting carbon dioxide in pipelines. These risks aren’t hypothetical: A leak from a carbon dioxide pipeline already caused serious health harms in Satartia, …
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CONTINUE READINGDelivering Workforce Benefits in an Emerging Industry
Observations on the workforce development provisions in the California Energy Commission (CEC) draft Offshore Wind Strategic Plan
California’s offshore wind (OSW) industry is transitioning from planning to implementation in a statewide effort to deliver 2-5 GW clean energy by 2030. In support of this goal, the California Energy Commission (CEC) released a draft of its Assembly Bill 525 Offshore Wind Strategic Plan (the Plan). In a nascent industry with complex community interests …
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CONTINUE READINGI ♥ IRA
Yes, the IRA has flaws. But it was a really unexpected breakthrough for US climate policy.
Call me eccentric, but this is my Valentine to a federal statute, the Inflation Reduction Act, better known as the IRA. No one really expected IRA to pass. A version of the Green New Deal had passed the House. But the Democrats had only a one-vote margin in the Senate, and that one vote was …
CONTINUE READINGThe New Particulate Standard and the Courts
The tough new air quality standard is sure to be challenged in court. Winning the challenges will be tougher.
EPA has just issued a rule tightening the air quality standard for PM2.5 — the tiny particles most dangerous to health — from an annual average of 12 μg/m³ (micrograms per cubic meter) down to 9 μg/m³. EPA estimates that, by the time the rule goes into effect in 2032, it will avoid 4500 premature …
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CONTINUE READINGA New Strategic Plan for California Offshore Wind
The California Energy Commission has published a draft including strategies for impacted communities, but CBAs deserve more emphasis.
For those following offshore wind development in California, January 19, 2024, marked an important moment—the release of the long-awaited Draft Assembly Bill 525 Offshore Wind Strategic Plan from the California Energy Commission (CEC). Some important foundations for offshore wind, a new but growing industry in California, had already been laid. Assembly Bill 525 (AB 525, …
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CONTINUE READINGClimate Election 2024: “Drill, Baby, Drill” but Then What?
Conservatives have a Trump 2.0 energy policy built on outright lies, some surprising ideas, and risky reversals of America’s clean energy transformation.
If you’ve missed the sound of a crowd shouting “Drill, Baby, Drill” you’re in luck. That chant is back in vogue, as the general election heats up. The 2008-era slogan is shorthand for the Trump campaign’s energy policy, but we know much more about current conservative thinking on the subject thanks to Project 2025, the …
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CONTINUE READINGClimate Change and “The Chosen One”
The plan of this messianic figure is clear — expanding fossil fuels and eliminating climate action.
A leading presidential candidate recently reposted a video that called him the “Chosen One,” echoing the view of many of his followers that God has chosen him to lead the country. “And on June 14, 1946,” the video tells us, “God looked down on his planned paradise and said, ‘I need a caretaker.’ So God …
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CONTINUE READINGWindmills are Killing Our Donuts! And It’s All Biden’s Fault!
A peek inside the mind of a leading presidential candidate.
Donald Trump has been talking a lot about donuts lately. Donuts, it seems, are threatened by renewable energy and depend on fossil fuels. Maybe because he’s heard that they’re cooked in oil? Trump’s knowledge of cooking is likely pretty minimal, given that it’s unlikely he’s ever been inside a kitchen. And windmills are terrible, just …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Unique Legal Context of EPA Methane Regulations
Three separate congressional actions intersect to support the regulations.
The government’s efforts to control methane have followed a complicated path, involving three different congressional actions: section 111 of the Clean Air Act, which allows EPA to regulate emissions of greenhouse gases; a congressional override of an earlier regulatory action; and a newer statute that creates a fee on methane emissions. The upshot is to …
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CONTINUE READINGSaving the Planet, One Case at a Time
These 50 law school clinics are doing vital work on environmental issues across the country.
Law school clinics are where the proverbial rubber meets the road. They introduce students to the realities of lawyering. Often, they are a law school’s most important form of public service. Environmental law clinics have blossomed across the country. Today’s post provides a directory to the clinics. There are several sites that promise comprehensive lists …
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