Events

Rep. Waxman, Sen. Pavley, and Mary Nichols talk climate change

For those of you interested in the relationship between federal climate legislation and California’s landmark global warming laws, tune in tomorrow 10am-noon PDT for a public forum at UCLA.  It will be live webcast here, and yes, we are apparently even twittering it.  Rep. Henry Waxman will talk about his work in passing the American Clean Energy and …

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Passage to India

Just arrived in Hyderabad, India, for the RAND/India School of Business conference on entrepreneurship.  After that, I make my way west to Bombay, and then north to Delhi, where on June 19th, the new Jindal Global Law School will sponsor a major conference on climate. It’s (sometimes) nice going to conferences, but I am also hoping to find …

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New and Noteworthy in the Eco-Blogosphere

For the environmental world at large, here are some noteworthy posts: Africa needs substantially scaled-up finance, technology and capacity-building to combat climate change 2009 Hurricane Names to Watch for, as Season Begins After a record-breaking 2008 hurricane season, the first storm has formed before the official June 1 start to the 2009 season. The hydrogen …

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Happy Birthday, Rachel Carson!

Rachel Carson was born on May 25, 1907, just over a century ago.  She once expressed her philosophy as follows: “We still talk in terms of conquest. We still haven’t become mature enough to think of ourselves as only a tiny part of a vast and incredible universe. Man’s attitude toward nature is today critically …

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A Good Week for Environmental Federalism

This has been a very good week for proponents of environmental federalism. On Tuesday, President Obama convened a Rose Garden ceremony to announce first-ever federal regulatory mandates specifically designed to address global warming. The federal government’s new CAFE standards for new cars and light trucks, beginning with the 2012 model year, will simultaneously reduce greenhouse …

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Nanopolicy Bumps in California

California continues to lead the way nationally on nanotechnology regulation, despite some bumps along the way.  Most recently, the Department of Toxic Substances Control issued a request for information regarding analytical test methods, fate and transport in the environment, and other relevant information from manufacturers of reactive nanometal oxides.   Substances covered include aluminum oxide, silicon …

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Earth Day as a Self-Organizing System

Senator Gaylord Nelson has explained the origins of Earth Day: At a conference in Seattle in September 1969, I announced that in the spring of 1970 there would be a nationwide grassroots demonstration on behalf of the environment and invited everyone to participate. The wire services carried the story from coast to coast. The response …

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China and Climate Change

In a recent lecture at Berkeley, Orville Schell discussed the attitudes of Chinese leaders toward climate change.  One significant factor is the increased understanding of how vulnerable China’s water supply is to climatic changes on the Tibetan Plateau, which is a key source of water for 2 billion Asians.  The speech includes some remarkable photos …

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Action on Nano-regulation Likely in California This Year

On March 19, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) hosted its third symposium on nanotechnology.  The symposium featured speakers from industry, government, the NGO community, and academia and focused upon potential regulatory approaches for dealing with health and environmental effects of nanotechnology.  In his remarks, Assemblyperson Mike Feuer announced his intent to introduce …

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An Invitation to Explore the Connections Between Constitutional & Environmental Law

These days, more and more of the most important environmental law disputes arise in the crucible of constitutional law.  Preemption, the Dormant Commerce Clause, the foreign powers doctrine, constitutional principles of standing to sue and the separation of powers doctrine are all doctrines of constitutional law that have been invoked in much of the most …

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