Litigation
The Delta: pumps, politics, and (fish) populations
Cross-posted at CPRBlog The past couple of weeks have been crazier than usual on the Bay-Delta. The pumps were first ramped up and then ramped down. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) pandered to the irrigation crowd (or at least a part of it) by proposing to ease endangered species protections in the Delta. And the fall-run …
Continue reading “The Delta: pumps, politics, and (fish) populations”
CONTINUE READINGSingin’ the California Delta Blues (Muddy Waters Ahead?)
But there really is a California Delta, and it’s vitally important to the state’s water supply. It also raises major environmental issues. The struggle to manage the Delta has also given rise to one of the most ambitious experiments in collaborative governance anywhere — an experiment that had some successes but ultimately seemed to hit a brick wall.
CONTINUE READINGNever Underestimate California’s Idiocy
Ann thinks the neanderthals attempting to repeal AB 32 won’t get the signatures to put the thing on the ballot. I hope she’s right, but given my general pessimism, I’d be willing to bet otherwise. Climate change regulation is like catnip to the Teabagger set. It is a vast left-wing conspiracy to destroy capitalism and …
Continue reading “Never Underestimate California’s Idiocy”
CONTINUE READINGSupreme Court takes another NEPA remedies case
The U.S. Supreme Court has granted review of the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Monsanto Co. v. Geertson Seed Farms. The grant is pretty clearly a follow-up to Winter v. NRDC, the sonar case from last term, in which the Court reversed an injunction the Ninth Circuit had imposed limiting the use of mid-frequency active sonar …
Continue reading “Supreme Court takes another NEPA remedies case”
CONTINUE READINGMapping EPA Enforcement
EPA has posted a new google map of its enforcement efforts. It’s pretty easy to use — for example, with a few clicks, I found a $117,000 fine against California Waste Solutions in Berkeley for a water pollution violation. Check it out, and learn what’s happening in your neighborhood.
CONTINUE READINGEarly endangerment finding fallout
As Dan discussed here, on Monday EPA finalized its finding that greenhouse gas emissions endanger public health and welfare. The new rule won’t be effective until 30 days after its publication in the Federal Register, but it is already generating spin and promises of litigation. Even before the final finding was issued, the Center for …
Continue reading “Early endangerment finding fallout”
CONTINUE READINGSome Reflections and Predictions Based on Yesterday’s Supreme Court Arguments in the Stop the Beach Renourishment Case
As reported earlier this week on this site, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments yesterday in an important property rights/environmental case, Stop the Beach Renourishment v. Florida Dept. of Environmental Protection. Here are some observations and (perhaps intemperate) predictions based on those arguments, which I was able to attend at the Supreme Court yesterday: …
CONTINUE READINGUpdate on DeChristopher trial
U.S. District Judge Dee Benson has ruled that Tim DeChristopher, the student who bid on federal oil and gas leases to protest global warming, cannot present a necessity defense in his criminal trial. The decision is not a surprise. The necessity defense typically faces a high bar in US courts, which require that the defendant …
Continue reading “Update on DeChristopher trial”
CONTINUE READINGClimate Change versus the Benzene Case
The Benzene Case — more properly, Industrial Union Dept. v. American Petroleum Inst. — is almost thirty years old, but is still the Supreme Court’s most important statement on risk regulation. After considering mountains of evidence, OSHA issued a rule restricting benzene in the workplace. Benzene was known to be a carcinogen; the evidence was …
Continue reading “Climate Change versus the Benzene Case”
CONTINUE READINGA red-letter day for washing machines
Under the Bush administration, which was implacably hostile to state environmental regulations exceeding federal minimum requirements, the Department of Energy refused to consider California’s request for permission to issue state rules setting water efficiency standards for washing machines. The Ninth Circuit has now set aside that action as arbitrary and capricious, and ruled that DOE …
Continue reading “A red-letter day for washing machines”
CONTINUE READINGJoin Our Mailing List
Climate policy is changing rapidly. Stay in the loop with expert analysis via email Monday - Friday.
