Energy
Post-Madrid, China And California Have An Opportunity To Lead
As international climate action falters, the two climate leaders can fill the void
Note: this post is co-authored with Fan Dai, director of the University of California’s California-China Climate Institute. With the high-profile failure of last week’s UN climate conference in Madrid, the focus of international action on climate change will need to shift to political leaders of key global economies. We attended the conference in Madrid on …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Decade in Review
Like many humans, the Twenty-First Century’s teenage years were stormy.
“It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.” That pretty much sums up the ten years from January 2010 to January 2020. As the decade began, Barrack Obama was in the White House and the Democrats controlled Congress but were one vote short of a filibuster-proof majority in the House. Under …
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CONTINUE READINGCOP25 in Context, or “How Bad is It?”
Reflections on Stopping Speeding Locomotives and Falling Off Cliffs
In my last post, I sketched a few of the many intense tensions and contradictions swirling around this year’s Conference of the Parties (COP25) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC). In this post, I’ll try to make some sense of the biggest tension of all, one that folks working on climate are …
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CONTINUE READINGCoal in 2019: A Tale of Decline
Like Canute & the ocean, Trump may wave his hands, but he can’t stop the tide.
Coal is just about the worst possible way of generating electricity in terms of its climate impacts. It’s also a serious public health hazard due to the particulates, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides it produces. Thus, reducing the use of coal is a high priority. How did we do in 2019? The short answer is …
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CONTINUE READINGClimate Change, Ozone Depletion, and the New York Times
The Montreal Protocol offers lessons for climate change, but not a role model
In an extended piece yesterday, The New York Times editorial board wrote that “The World Solved the Ozone Problem. It Can Solve Climate Change. The same tools that fixed the ozone hole — science, innovation and international action — can address.” Although the editorial was mostly correct, it missed what I believe to be the …
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CONTINUE READING2019 in Renewable Energy
The move toward renewables is continuing despite Trump.
Despite the efforts of the Trump Administration, renewable energy has continued to thrive. Key states are imposing rigorous deadlines for reducing power generation from fossil fuels. Economic trends are also supporting renewables. In the first half of 2019, Texas produced more power from renewables than coal. Texas may be content to rely on market forces, …
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CONTINUE READINGThings to Be Thankful For
Despite the Trump Administration’s efforts, there are rays of hope.
Three years into the Trump Administration, we’re now accustomed to waking up every morning to learn about a new attack on the environment. But there are also some things to be thankful for. Here’s how I started a similar post in 2017, just a year after the 2016 election: “Overall, it’s been a pretty lousy …
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CONTINUE READINGClimate Policy at Midcentury — Africa
If we’re not careful, African emissions could rival those of China and India today.
If current projections hold and nothing is done to change the trend, Africa could emit as much carbon as the U.S. or even China today. We can’t allow that to happen.
CONTINUE READINGElectric Vehicle Law & Policy Solutions For France & California
New CLEE symposium brief released today based on June 2019 conference
UC Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy and the Environment (CLEE) is today releasing a new report on lessons learned to advance electric vehicle (EV) deployment in France and California. Electric Vehicles and Global Urban Adoption: Policy Solutions from France and California is based on a June 2019 international conference at UC Berkeley, co-sponsored by …
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CONTINUE READINGA New Tactic in Climate Change Litigation
Unlike past lawsuits, a recent one may be able to accomplish more
Last week, closing arguments were presented in a potentially important climate change lawsuit, the People of the State of New York v. Exxon Mobil Corp. Such climate legal action seems increasingly common, or at least visible. In the US, 21 youths have brought a lawsuit against the federal government and fossil fuel companies for failing …
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