Politics

Conservatives and climate change

Dan notes, in a recent post, the ways in which potential Republican presidential candidates are backwards-pedaling on whatever statements they might once have made supporting action to address climate change.  (Climate change is apparently the new former mistriss — we’ve all flirted in the past with things we now regret.)  Former Congressman Bob Inglis (R-S.C.) spoke at UCLA …

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Video and print materials online from our conference Local Agencies on the Cutting Edge: Emerging Challenges to Local Land Use Authority

On February 11, UCLA Law hosted a symposium, Local Agencies on the Cutting Edge: Emerging Challenges to Local Land Use Authority.  This daylong conference addressed important new developments in local land-use law. We now have a webpage devoted to the symposium, including  links to video recordings of all the day’s sessions, as well as written materials …

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Pandering to the Right, Or, “That Was Then, This Is Now.”

PAWLENTY: Well, anybody who’s going to run for this office who’s been in an executive position, or may run, has got some clunkers in their record. Laura, mine I think are fewer and less severe than most. As to climate change, or more specifically cap-and-trade, I’ve just come out and admitted it — look, it …

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The recent court decision blocking California’s scoping plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions: One-stop shopping for recent Legal Planet commentary

Several of the bloggers on Legal Planet have been commenting extensively on the recent California court decision that will block the California Air Resources Board from moving forward with its AB 32 Scoping Plan and related regulations.  I’ve provided links below to a series of our posts on this decision. The court, ruling on a …

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Might recent events allow Governor Brown to consider a new direction for AB 32 implementation?

My colleague Jonathan Zasloff suggests that environmental justice groups are using litigation to try to get leverage for some sort of compensation or other measures, rather than to actually stop the state’s cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gases. I doubt that.  But what I do wonder — with no evidence, but I can speculate wildly on …

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Can the Air Resources Board continue to implement measures to reduce greenhouse gases?

One interesting feature of the court decision preventing the state from moving forward with AB 32 is that the court’s decision seems to halt implementation of the entire scoping plan.  As I’ll explain, this is an odd result, and one that may be legally required but doesn’t make practical sense. The legal flaw the court …

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Reflections on environmental justice and AB 32’s emissions trading program

I have a few thoughts on environmental justice and the new court decision halting implementation of the AB 32 scoping plan, inspired by my colleague Ann Carlson’s post, and the comments on that post.  Reflecting on the environmental justice community’s successful (at least temporarily) attack on greenhouse gas emissions trading in California – and on the …

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Education and Views About Climate Change

A political science blog called the Monkey Cage (the name is a reference to an irreverent remark by H.L. Mencken) has an interesting post about education and views about climate change.  As you would expect, education is positively correlated with a better understanding of the science — but only for liberals.  Educated conservatives are no …

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That’s “Chief Justice Bitch”

The ongoing Wisconsin saga of public sector union rights has, predictably, involved the state’s Supreme Court.  But in a much more personal way than one would think at first: The April 5th state Supreme Court election in Wisconsin, where incumbent Justice David Prosser is seeking re-election, is now being shaken up by news about the …

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Politicians Have Different Incentives Than Government Bureaucrats About Truth-Telling in a Catastrophe

Jonathan argues, essentially, that governments don’t lie, people do, because the incentive structure for the person responsible for the catastrophe favors taking the risk that the better outcome will occur even if it’s unlikely.   This is especially true, in Jonathan’s view, because if the terrible outcome occurs, the person in charge will be ousted …

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