Events

U.C. Davis School of Law Hosts “CEQA at 50” Conference on April 16th

CEQA at 50 logo

Virtual Event Commemorates Past, Predicts Future of the California Environmental Quality Act

Now a half-century old, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) remains California’s most important, cross-cutting and controversial environmental law.  Originally patterned on the 1969 National Environmental Policy Act, CEQA has over the decades become a more powerful law than its federal counterpart.  And while numerous other states have adopted their own “little NEPA” statutes, CEQA …

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Climate Change, Big Energy & The U.S. Supreme Court–What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

BP v. Baltimore Is First Environmental Case To Come Before Newly-Reconstituted High Court

On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in its first environmental case of the 2020-21 Term.  That case, BP PLC v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, involves an important, nationwide climate change litigation trend, and will provide the first indication of the post-Ginsburg Court’s attitude towards environmental law and litigation generally. The Baltimore case is …

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New Report: Deploying Engineered Carbon Removal In California

Law & policy options to boost demonstration projects + free webinar on January 27th

Berkeley/UCLA Law report discusses policy solutions to boost engineered carbon removal technologies. Register for a free webinar on Wednesday, January 27th at 10am with an expert panel to hear about the top findings. California has enacted ambitious climate goals, including a statewide carbon neutrality target by 2045. While much of the required greenhouse gas reductions …

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Driving Sustainable Energy Storage Technology

Maximizing the Environmental Utility of Battery Storage: Building a Life Cycle Assessment Framework

Battery energy storage is recognized as a key element of making our energy infrastructure more sustainable and resilient. Battery storage, however, encompasses many technologies–how should sustainability-minded agencies, utilities and storage developers choose among these options? UCLA’s Emmett Institute and the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability is hosting an interactive workshop on that question …

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EV Battery Supply Chain Sustainability & Mining

Register for forthcoming report launch webinar on Thursday, July 23rd, from 9-10am PT

The adoption of millions of electric vehicles needed to combat climate change will mark a major shift in mining activities across the world. To get the needed lithium, cobalt and other minerals for the batteries, countries and companies are turning to deep-sea mining, lithium deposits in Nevada and California’s Salton Sea, and further exploiting resources …

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D.C. and Puerto Rico are not the same.

Blanket calls for D.C. and Puerto Rico statehood miss a critical difference: D.C. is the American capital. Puerto Rico is an American colony.

“D.C. and Puerto Rico should be states. Pass it on.” With passage of the D.C. statehood bill in the House of Representatives last Friday, variations on this statement have been gaining traction as a liberal rallying cry. Because they are not states, neither D.C. nor Puerto Rico have voting representation in Congress. The votes of …

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Trump’s Border Wall, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and Separation of Powers

U.S. Court of Appeals Rules Unconstitutional Trump Administration’s Diversion of $2.5 Billion in Congressionally-Appropriated DOD Funds for Border Wall Construction

Late last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit struck down the Trump Administration’s attempted diversion of $2.5 billion in federal funds Congress had appropriated for the Department of Defense.  The Trump Administration did so in order to finance President Trump’s proposed, controversial border wall at a level Congress had expressly declined …

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A New Report on Governing Climate Geoengineering

I suggest steps toward global governance of carbon dioxide removal and solar geoengineering

A new report on the governance of climate geoengineering — that is, carbon dioxide removal (CDR) and solar geoengineering (or solar radiation modification, SRM) — has been released. International Governance Issues on Climate Engineering: Information for Policymakers was coordinated and issued by the International Risk Governance Center, edited by IRGC’s Marie-Valentine Florin, and commissioned by the …

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Just a Bit More on Earth Day(s) Past and Present

Kudos to the New York Times for Its Stellar Earth Day Coverage–Today & 50 Years Ago

This week, several of my Legal Planet colleagues and I have been posting and musing about Earth Days past, present and future.  As I write this, Earth Day 50 is winding down after a multitude of (largely online) demonstrations and celebrations across the globe. One long-term, disturbing development over the past couple of decades has …

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Earth Day’s 50th Anniversary: A Reflection

Why Celebrating Environmental Values & Goals Is Now More Important Than Ever

Today marks the 50th anniversary of America’s first Earth Day.  Beginning on April 22, 1970, the United States and global community have rallied each year to celebrate environmental values and goals.  It seems especially important to commemorate and continue that tradition in the midst of the current coronavirus pandemic. The first Earth Day was a …

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