Environmental Justice
A New Birth of Housing?
Omnibus’ “Baby YIMBY” Bill Offers An Opportunity For Cities — And For Advocates
Tucked deep inside the massive Omnibus bill is what has been called the “Baby YIMBY” provision — an $85 million grant program, to be administered by HUD: The bill provides the U.S. Secretary for Housing and Urban Development (HUD) with $85 million to dole out on a competitive basis to jurisdictions for “the identification and …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ 10 Most Important Environmental Law Decisions of 2022
Climate Change, Water Rights, Environmental Justice & Federalism Issues Highlighted the Ninth Circuit’s Prodigious Environmental Docket This Year
I’ve shared in previous posts my view that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is–after the U.S. Supreme Court–the most influential court in the nation when it comes to environmental and natural resources law. That’s true for two related reasons: first, the sprawling Ninth Circuit encompasses nine different states (including California) and …
CONTINUE READINGKeep on Trucking
A new rule will clean up exhaust from new diesels, a major health threat.
Last week, EPA finalized its new rule imposing emission limits on new heavy trucks. The new regulation was clearly a massive undertaking. EPA’s formal announcement of the new rule is 1100 pages long. The accompanying summary of comments on the proposed rule and EPA’s responses is another 2000 pages. This is partly due to the …
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CONTINUE READINGUCLA Environmental Law Clinic Students’ Work Used in Litigation for Improved Refinery Monitoring
East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice, represented by Earthjustice, filed a petition drafted by UCLA ELC students
On Monday, environmental-justice advocates filed a petition drafted by two of our amazing UCLA Environmental Law Clinic students, Sarah Repko and Monica Heger, opening litigation to improve monitoring of petroleum refineries in Southern California. This spring, Sarah and Monica had the exciting opportunity to work with Earthjustice’s Community Partnerships program to prepare litigation enforcing state …
CONTINUE READINGConcealing Plutocracy
California’s battles over rooftop solar obscure the real culprits: Gavin Newsom and Silicon Valley billionaires
The LA Times’ inestimable Sammy Roth reports on the attempt of California’s investor-owned utilities to end “net metering,” whereby utilities must pay customers with rooftop solar for their excess electricity. Roth has been highly skeptical of the utilities’ drive: it’s an age of climate crisis, and the state’s Public Utilities Commission is going to reduce …
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CONTINUE READINGShould China Pay Climate Reparations?
‘Yes’ under some reparation theories, ‘no’ under others.
At the international negotiating session in Egypt, demands for climate reparations — “Loss and Damage” in UN lingo — were front and center. The debate was focused on the obligations of developed countries. But there was another issue percolating in the background: Does China, the world’s largest carbon emitter, have an obligation to compensate poorer …
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CONTINUE READINGRealizing Equitable Outcomes in Climate Action Plan Implementation
As my colleagues Katie Segal, Ted Lamm, and Ross Zelen have described, our team at CLEE released an analysis earlier this month detailing how San Francisco can fund implementation of its Climate Action Plan. Katie provided an overview of the city’s Climate Action Plan (CAP), describing how San Francisco will need to secure tens of billions …
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CONTINUE READINGClimate Change and Indian Country
The tribes are on the front lines of climate change.
In light of Native American Heritage Day last Friday, we should also be thinking about the future of the tribes in the era of climate change. Tribes face serious challenges from climate change, but also some potential opportunities. In terms of climate impacts, many tribes are at high risk. Tribes are especially vulnerable to climate …
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CONTINUE READINGBrazil: Presidential Election, Saving the Amazon, and Combating Climate Change
Views from the Governors’ Climate and Forests Task Force
By Jason Gray and Colleen Scanlan Lyons Co-Project Directors, GCF Task Force Yesterday, the people of Brazil had a historic vote in favor of returning President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Lula) to power. Lula, who served as President of Brazil from 2003 to 2010 (and is the first President in Brazil to return for …
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CONTINUE READINGGCF Task Force Exchange of Experiences in San Martin, Peru
Notes from the Field
From October 10-13, 2022, the Governors’ Climate and Forests Task Force (GCF Task Force) – a project of the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at UCLA School of Law and UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, in partnership with the Institute of Behavioral Science at the University of Colorado, Boulder – and …
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