General
Remembering Dale Goble
“Father of Wildlife Law” passed away this spring
Dale Goble, professor of law at University of Idaho, passed this April. There are numerous excellent tributes to Dale’s life, available here, here, and here. As a co-author of Dale’s on our Wildlife Law casebook, I wanted to add my personal recognition of his life and work. When I first started teaching law over 15 …
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CONTINUE READINGSubnational Climate Action in the UK
As in the U.S., it’s not all about the national government. Not by any means.
Last week, I posted about the British government’s climate policy. In sharp contrast with their American counterparts, British conservatives remain firmly behind the Paris Agreement and supportive of cap-and-trade. In another respect, though, there’s more similarity: in both countries, subnational governments play a key role in climate policy. Here’s what’s happening across Great Britain. Regional …
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CONTINUE READINGDesalination: An Essential Part of California’s Water Future
Coastal Commission’s Recent Rejection of Huntington Beach Desalination Project Misguided
Let me begin this commentary with a disclaimer: I was an early and strong proponent of Proposition 20, the successful 1972 California voter initiative measure that enacted the Coastal Act and created the California Coastal Commission (albeit temporarily). I supported with equal enthusiasm the state Legislature’s 1976 enactment of legislation making both the Coastal Act …
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CONTINUE READINGWorld-Changing Opportunity for California
$100 Million for Methane Satellites
Governor Newsom’s May Revise budget proposal includes this item: Methane Satellites—$100 million Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund on a one-time basis to expand the number of satellites launched for methane observations, which would provide weekly measurement of large methane emissions in the state and enhance enforcement capabilities. This data will allow California to identify the source …
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CONTINUE READINGIncome-Targeted Environmental Policies, Episode 2
Affordable housing and the Transit-Oriented Communities program
This is the second post in a short series on income-targeted environmental policies. You can read the first post, introducing the concept of “Area Median Income,” here. In this second part of my series on income-targeted environmental programs, I want to talk about affordable housing, and one particular housing program, Transit-Oriented Communities (TOC). TOC has …
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CONTINUE READINGCalifornia Releases Draft Plan to Reach Carbon Neutrality by 2045
California’s Draft 2022 Scoping Plan is an ambitious, affordable, and actionable plan for addressing climate change
California’s lead climate and air quality agency published a comprehensive draft plan yesterday for how the state could reach its carbon neutrality goals by no later than 2045. The California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) Draft 2022 Scoping Plan Update (Draft Plan) assesses both California’s progress toward meeting its 2030 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction target …
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CONTINUE READINGGoverning Emissions Trading in California and China
Two new policy reports from an international research collaboration consider the design and implementation of emissions trading systems in China and California
Carbon markets are at a crossroads. As of 2021, 30 emissions trading systems were in force globally, covering 16–17% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Last year, climate negotiators in Glasgow finalized the Paris Agreement rulebook for international cooperation through carbon markets, clearing the way for the expansion of emissions trading and carbon pricing worldwide. …
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CONTINUE READINGBadly Drafted and Constitutionally Suspect
New laws blacklist “discrimination” against fossil fuel companies in states that normally could care less about discrimination of any kind.
Texas and a number of other states have passed laws banning what they call “boycotts of fossil fuel companies.” More precisely, they ban state investment or contracting with firms that “boycott” fossil fuel companies. Besides being fundamentally misguided and difficult to implement, these blacklist laws are poorly drafted and quite likely unconstitutional. The “fundamentally misguided” …
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CONTINUE READINGTaking the Court’s Temperature on Global Warming
A case on the shadow docket may shed light on the Court’s direction.
Court watchers and environmentalists are waiting with bated breath for the Supreme Court to rule on West Virginia v. EPA, the Court’s most important climate change case in a generation. The issue in that case is what, if anything, EPA can do to regulate carbon emissions from power plants and factories. Yesterday, conservative states asked …
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CONTINUE READINGRegistration Is Open for the 2022 California Water Law Symposium
California’s Most Important Annual Water Law Conference–Law Student Organized!–Set for April 9th
Registration is now open for California’s 2022 Water Law Symposium, scheduled for Saturday, April 9th. U.C. Davis School of Law has the honor of hosting this year’s Symposium, which is an extraordinary event in two respects: first, it is organized entirely by law students (rather than law firms, water organizations, law professors or commercial vendors). …
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