Politics
Nudging Smart Growth
There are lots of problems with Sunstein and Thaler’s book Nudge, but its central premise has potentially powerful applications to a host of problems. Sunstein and Thaler posit that in many policy areas, “choice architects” can help people make better choices without impairing their actual ability to make that choice — a philosophy that they call …
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CONTINUE READINGTrade laws and climate change regulation
Co-authored by Jesse Swanhuyser, UCLA Law class of 2011, formerly a fair trade advocate in California and Washington D.C. A prior version of this article first appeared in the Los Angeles Daily Journal, on July 23. As discussed in other posts on this blog, last month was particularly challenging for those working toward national and international climate agreements. At …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Death of Yucca Mountain
Over twenty years ago, the Supreme Court accepted the Nuclear Regulatory Agency’s assurances that it would find a safe method for long-term disposal of nuclear waste. Consequently, the NRC was allowed to assign a zero to the risk of any radioactive discharge. As it turns out, this was an empty promise. The solution that the …
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CONTINUE READINGWhy Al Franken Matters
Norm Coleman was pretty good on environmental issues. But Franken has the capacity to become a real leader on environment and energy issues. In his campaign, he called for a major push on clean energy: When I was a kid, I watched John F. Kennedy tell us that we would put a man on the …
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CONTINUE READINGCap-and-Trade: What are the Odds?
Intrade is now giving 50:50 odds on the passage of a cap-and-trade scheme by the end of 2010. (20% for 2009). I’m not necessarily a huge believer in the wisdom of crowds, but they’ve done pretty well with election forecasting. Note that there are some ambiguities about the “contract” being traded: “A cap and trade …
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CONTINUE READINGMoves at EPA
From EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson: I would like to share news of three key appointments to the senior staff at EPA: Lisa Heinzerling, who has been named Associate Administrator for the Office of Policy, Economics and Innovation (OPEI); David McIntosh, who has been appointed as Associate Administrator for the Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations …
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CONTINUE READINGHow is Cap’n Trade’s brand faring? The Jon Stewart barometer
There’s been some good discussion of the pros and cons of the Waxman-Markey ACES bill at Ethan’s recent post criticizing cap-and-trade. One commenter worries that , whether or not the bill would ultimately succeed in reducing greenhouse emissions, the public perception of ACES is that it’s a corporate giveaway, which harms all efforts for environmental regulation. Red Desert …
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CONTINUE READINGNew California offshore drilling part of budget deal?
Lost in the swirl of reports on what may, or may not, be part of the California budget deal legislators appear to be closing in on is this detail, reported by the AP: Aides to the governor and Legislature spent their weekend rushing to work out legislative language that could resolve the remaining issues. . …
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CONTINUE READINGA Silver Lining to the Supreme Court Term for Environmentalists?
In assessing the environmental train wreck that was the just-concluded Supreme Court Term, the question arises: is there anything from that Term from which environmental interests can take comfort? The answer is at least a qualified “yes.” Somewhat lost in the attention focused on the justices’ five major environmental decisions–all of them clear defeats for …
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CONTINUE READINGCynthia Giles Tackles Busy Agenda in High-Ranking EPA Post
The following was written by Andrew Cohen for Berkeley Law’s Newsroom. As the new enforcement chief for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Cynthia Giles [Berkeley Law alum of] ’78 is anything but naïve about the enormity of her position and the pressure it brings. “We have a lot of important work to do,” says …
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