Politics
Newt is Yet Another Mind-Changing Republican Candidate Climate Denier
This climate change ad, posted today in a Salon piece on Newt Gingrich and his “enviornmentalism problem,” is a must watch: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qi6n_-wB154] Yes, newly declared Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich appeared with Nancy Pelosi in a 2008 youtube video to argue that we must do something about climate change. But more recently he’s backed away from …
Continue reading “Newt is Yet Another Mind-Changing Republican Candidate Climate Denier”
CONTINUE READINGEvaluating the claim that future environmental regulations have already made California the nation’s worst place to do business
I’m reasonably sure that chiefexecutive.net’s annual listing of “Best/Worst States for Business“ isn’t most people’s go-to source for information comparing various states’ business climates. Nonetheless, the website’s annual survey just came out, and the Sacramento Bee is covering it as a story (with a promise of more coverage to come). California — as usual — …
CONTINUE READINGParking, Infill, and Affordable Housing
The Infill Builders’ parking bill that I blogged about this morning just passed unanimously out of the Assembly Local Government committee this afternoon, overcoming perhaps its biggest hurdle to ultimate passage. Although one would expect local governments to oppose a state bill that limits their ability to demand excessive parking for transit-oriented development, opposition to …
Continue reading “Parking, Infill, and Affordable Housing”
CONTINUE READINGInfill Builders at the State Capitol
Part of my work with UC Berkeley and UCLA involves gathering business leaders to discuss opportunities presented by climate change policies. In the case of real estate development, the common refrain from sustainable developers seems to be to tell government to get out of their way and let them build more walkable, mixed-use communities around …
Continue reading “Infill Builders at the State Capitol”
CONTINUE READINGThe Public Trust Doctrine: A Prophet Without Honor
Michael C. Blumm and R.D. Guthrie of Lewis & Clark Law School have an interesting new paper soon to appear in the U.C. Davis Law Review, pointing out that the public trust doctrine has assumed enormous significance in the jurisprudence of several countries around the world, including India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Uganda, Kenya, South …
Continue reading “The Public Trust Doctrine: A Prophet Without Honor”
CONTINUE READINGChris Christie: A Moron AND A Hypocrite!
The New York Times reports this morning: The Christie administration, lenders and a new developer have reached a deal to revive the vast Xanadu entertainment and retail complex, which sits forlorn and unfinished along a stretch of New Jersey highway after having burned through two owners and $1.9 billion, people involved in the negotiations said …
Continue reading “Chris Christie: A Moron AND A Hypocrite!”
CONTINUE READINGRemembering Rachel Carson
Earth Day seems an appropriate time to recall past leaders in environmental thought. Few have played a greater role in the development of U.S. environmental law than Rachel Carson (1907-1964), whose books did much to spark the environmental movement. It is good to hear that her books have been reprinted as ebooks by Open Road …
Continue reading “Remembering Rachel Carson”
CONTINUE READINGThink Tanks, Advocacy Tanks, and the Kleiman Rule
Dan is absolutely right to distinguish between real think tanks and what I called “fake think tanks” (and what he calls, more generously, “advocacy tanks.”). But what we need is some criterion for distinguishing the two: one key move of the modern Conservative Movement has been to dismiss all study as simply being the product …
Continue reading “Think Tanks, Advocacy Tanks, and the Kleiman Rule”
CONTINUE READINGSolicitor General Katyal Flunks Supreme Court History
At least he did at the oral argument in Connecticut v. AEP yesterday: [Lawyer for the state plaintiffs Barbara] Underwood, pressed to cite past court cases that might show this particular lawsuit could work in court, had no close parallels to rely upon. Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., had pressed her to come up …
Continue reading “Solicitor General Katyal Flunks Supreme Court History”
CONTINUE READINGDamage Control for the States: Predicting the Outcome in AEP v. Connecticut
Yesterday I previewed Tuesday’s oral arguments in the U.S. Supreme Court’s American Electric Power v. Connecticut case, and two of my Legal Planet colleagues have already posted comments on certain aspects of those arguments. But let me cast discretion to the wind and predict the outcome of the case. Actually, it’s not that difficult a …
Continue reading “Damage Control for the States: Predicting the Outcome in AEP v. Connecticut”
CONTINUE READINGJoin Our Mailing List
Climate policy is changing rapidly. Stay in the loop with expert analysis via email Monday - Friday.
