Los Angeles
Think Globally, Act Locally – Personal Environmental Action in the Era of Trump 2.0
AKA it should be much easier to put in a heat pump water heater.
The chaos of Trump 2.0 is making it difficult to think about affirmative environmental action these days. At the policy level and in the courts, environmentalists are going to be playing defense for the next few years. Much of what is going on these days feels beyond the average person’s control and that can be …
CONTINUE READINGSaving Disaster Law From the Imperial Presidency
Trump’s efforts to deconstruct disaster relief have serious legal flaws
In recent days, Trump has said that he won’t provide relief for the LA fires unless California changes its voting laws and its water regulations. And he also suggested that he’d like to abolish FEMA entirely. The first of those proposals seems clearly unconstitutional. The second one is both a terrible idea and beyond his legal authority.
CONTINUE READINGLitigating Against Trump
Trump’s agencies had a terrible litigation record the first time. It will probably get better – but not that much better.
In his first term, Trump’s litigation record was awful – winning only one case in four by some estimates.The Trump folks should do a better this time. But they may not improve that much, and could still lose more often than they win. Money invested in litigating against the Administration will be well spent. Meticulous attention to evidence and legal requirements is likely to remain a weak point.
CONTINUE READINGDid California Policies Make the LA Fires Worse?
California’s environmental and climate regulations did not make the climate-fueled Palisades and Eaton fires more destructive or harder to fight. Here’s why.
We know climate change is partly to blame. Are California’s environmental policies regarding land and water management also to blame for the supercharged firestorm that has ravaged Los Angeles? It’s not just conspiracy theories on social media or misguided news stories; that’s the position of some congressional Republicans and President-elect Trump, who hold power over future …
Continue reading “Did California Policies Make the LA Fires Worse?”
CONTINUE READINGHonoring Michael Zischke (1954-2025)
A Force in the CEQA World
Michael Zischke was a talented and award-winning land use and environmental lawyer, Mike was widely recognized for his extensive expertise in California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) litigation and compliance.
CONTINUE READINGClimate Takeaways from Newsom’s Budget Proposal
The Governor’s proposed 2025-26 budget would tap the recent voter-approved climate bond and seek new emergency funds.
For more than a month, California has worked at “Trump-proofing” the State budget. Now you could say the Governor is looking to fire-proof it too. On Friday, as wildfires continued to rage across Southern California, officials from the California Department of Finance presented the Governor’s proposed 2025-26 budget. Earlier in the week, the Governor—who has …
Continue reading “Climate Takeaways from Newsom’s Budget Proposal”
CONTINUE READINGHuge Snub for Big Oil at the Supreme Court
Oil companies failed to persuade the justices to shield them from the growing number of state lawsuits seeking damages for the harms caused by climate change.
Big Oil has failed to persuade the U.S. Supreme Court to shield it from numerous state climate lawsuits filed across the country seeking damages for the harms caused by climate change — harms like the historic, supercharged urban fires burning in Los Angeles. The justices held a conference on Friday, January 10 to determine whether …
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CONTINUE READINGLA Fires and the Climate Connection
New UCLA research connects the dots between the climate crisis and the supercharged LA wildfires. “Hydroclimate whiplash” means worse floods, droughts, and fires.
Like millions of Angelenos, I’ve been staying indoors and off the roads, glued to the Watch Duty app, radio, and TV coverage as LA is engulfed by these historic fires. The last 48 hours of coverage has focused, understandably, on the firefight and immediate devastation. Now, it’s time to start hearing about the climate connection, …
Continue reading “LA Fires and the Climate Connection”
CONTINUE READINGA Crisis in Climate Communications
Deadly windstorms, wildfires, and hurricanes constitute something more horrific than just “climate change.”
What’s best for communicating urgency: phrases like “global warming” and “climate change” or “climate crisis” and “climate emergency”? What do audiences take away from these semantic choices? Does it matter what words we use? What about when the entire nation is watching a series of wildfires engulf Los Angeles, fueled by unusually dry vegetation during …
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CONTINUE READINGOur Mission: Keeping Hope Alive
If you read Legal Planet, you know the work of the environmental law centers at Berkeley and UCLA is critical. Now is the time to support it.
The Trump Administration is planning a tsunami of anti-environmental actions.. States like California will be the best hope for making progress in the next four years. Keeping the torch burning — helping California succeed — will be challenging. So will fending off hostile actions from Washington. Our centers at Berkeley and UCLA are at the heart of this work.
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