General

Roadmap For California To Phase Out Oil & Gas Production

New CLEE report released today with legal options for state policy makers & free May 12th webinar

California is the seventh-largest oil producing state in the country, with a fossil fuel industry that is responsible for billions of dollars in state and local revenue and other economic activity each year. Yet continued oil and gas production contrasts with the state’s aggressive climate mitigation policies, while creating significant air and water pollution, particularly …

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The Netherlands Will Likely Meet Ambitious Climate Targets

A typical King's Day

While COVID-19 will enable NL to meet a court mandate, the government wants to go further

Today is the national day of the Netherlands: Koningsdag, or King’s Day. This holiday is typically celebrated with enormous street parties and outdoor flea markets. Of course, the 2020 edition is different, with the government asking residents to stay indoors in a “Woningsdag,” or Home Day, to limit the spread of the coronavirus. In the …

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In Support of Public Health Federalism

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Reactionary State Responses to COVID-19 (and Other Threats to Public Health) Don’t Mean Federalism Is For Suckers

For decades, “states’ rights” has been a rallying cry of the right wing. Most Americans are familiar with the dynamics that required the federalization of civil rights law, both in the 1860s and again in the 1960s, the protection of much of our nation’s federal lands, and the national crises that necessitated the federal government …

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Here Today, Gone to Maui

U.S. Supreme Court Issues Environment-Friendly Ruling in Major Clean Water Act Case

This week the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in the Court’s most important environmental law case of the current Term: County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund.  In a somewhat surprising ruling, the justices rejected both sides’ argument over the scope of government authority to regulate water pollution discharges under the federal Clean Water …

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Flint Five Years On

What has happened with Flint’s drinking water?

The history of environmental policy can well be told by place names. Love Canal – hazardous waste. Los Angeles – air quality. The Cuyahoga River – water quality. And, most recently, Flint – drinking water. The tragedy in Flint, Michigan, entered the 24/7 national news cycle five years ago, led President Obama to visit the …

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What Can We Learn from Modeling a Pandemic?

Individual-based modeling offers untapped opportunities for policymakers and researchers

With the emergence of the corona virus, modeling – the science of representing processes and systems for purpose of analysis—has been at the center of debate how to respond to this public health crisis. Experts and non-experts alike follow the latest modeling predictions, and federal and state public health policies are grounded, at least in …

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Despite COVID-19, This Earth Day Brings Animals Closer to Human Society

Sheltering in place during the pandemic has had dramatic impacts on various wildlife, raising questions about our relationship with animals in urban spaces.

Two months into a global pandemic, COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on human society. But outside of the monumental human suffering and disruption to our livelihoods, Earth continues to turn at the same rate, and the natural ecosystem continues to operate as it normally does. Except this time, the human influence on the natural environment is …

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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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Los Angeles Air Quality in the Time of Covid-19

Headlines from across the world have trumpeted  one of the few benefits of the Covid-19 shutdown: cleaner air quality.  Los Angeles has starred in those headlines, with many reporters calling attention to the fact that the region had some of the cleanest air in the world during a period  in April.  EPA data also confirm …

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