Politics
Be Thankful for Millennials – Our Best Environmental Hope
The present belongs to Trump. The future is a lot greener.
We may not have much to be thankful right now, but I do have one bright thought for Thanksgiving. These are dark days for the cause of environmental protection, and it would be easy to give way to despair. But I continue to believe that prospects will improve. This election was a huge and costly …
Continue reading “Be Thankful for Millennials – Our Best Environmental Hope”
CONTINUE READINGSurprise! Bill O’Reilly Says Trump Should Accept the Paris Agreement
No, this isn’t a hoax, and I didn’t find it on the Onion. Seriously.
Bill O’Reilly has said on Fox News that Trump should accept the Paris Agreement because “it’s not that big a deal” and ‘it would buy good will.” When I read this, my first thought was that it was somebody’s idea of a joke, or was just some of that fake Internet news that we’ve all heard …
Continue reading “Surprise! Bill O’Reilly Says Trump Should Accept the Paris Agreement”
CONTINUE READINGEnvironmental Law under Trump: A Threat Assessment
Environmental law may face attack on many fronts during the Trump Administration. As we were all forcefully reminded last week, predictions are always uncertain. Trump’s own intentions are not yet clear, and there are many permutations that could affect the end result. Rather than trying to predict exactly what will or won’t happen, it may …
Continue reading “Environmental Law under Trump: A Threat Assessment”
CONTINUE READINGAll Eyes on the Subnationals
After the election of Trump, state and local leaders have to step up
As my colleague Ethan Elkind pointed out in a blog post the other day, the most viable path forward in the fight to slow (cause we’re kind of past the ability to prevent) climate change after the election of Donald Trump as President on Tuesday will be at the sub-federal level. As Ethan pointed out, …
Continue reading “All Eyes on the Subnationals”
CONTINUE READINGPossible EPA Picks
Here are some of the names floating around in the media — from horrible to less bad.
Who will head EPA? Various lists of possible candidates have been circulating in the media. I’ve put together the names that have been mentioned in places like Politico and the Washington Post, along with the results of some very quick research. I’d appreciate hearing from readers who may be familiar with some of these possible nominees. Take this …
Continue reading “Possible EPA Picks”
CONTINUE READINGThe U.S. Goes Right, California Goes Left
Significant progressive wins in the Left Coast on election night
We all know election night took a turn to the right at the national level. But here in California, the results were all about the progressives. The California legislature saw Democrats get major pickups to move forward on a progressive agenda, although as KPCC radio reported, they may have just failed to achieve a 2/3 …
Continue reading “The U.S. Goes Right, California Goes Left”
CONTINUE READINGWhat Will Trump Do? Maybe Not What We Expect.
If he cares about 2020, he’ll have to do some recalibrating.
To be honest, no one really knows what Trump will do. Maybe not even Trump. The obvious is often the safest best. In this post, I’m going to speculate about another, slightly less dire, possibility. He may take the most obvious path – which would mean ripping the heart out of our environmental laws. For instance, he …
Continue reading “What Will Trump Do? Maybe Not What We Expect.”
CONTINUE READINGWhat Does a Trump Presidency Portend for California’s Environmental Policies?
Constitutional Issues Loom Large in Future, Likely Federal-California Legal Confrontations
Sensing political storm clouds ahead, California Governor Jerry Brown yesterday issued a statement on the presidential election results that concludes: “We will protect the precious rights of our people and continue to confront the existential threat of our time–devastating climate change.” Several of my Legal Planet colleagues have recently posted thoughtful commentary on what Donald Trump’s …
Continue reading “What Does a Trump Presidency Portend for California’s Environmental Policies?”
CONTINUE READINGTrump and Climate Change
There’s Nothing Good to Be Said About It
A Trump Presidency is a disaster for U.S. leadership on climate change. There’s no other way to spin this election. Myron Ebell, the head of Trump’s EPA transition team, thinks that President Obama’s Clean Power Plan is illegal, the Paris Agreement unconstitutional and that climate change “is nothing to worry about.” Though most of the …
Continue reading “Trump and Climate Change”
CONTINUE READINGDefending the Environment in Dark Times
Where do we go from here?
Yesterday’s election didn’t turn out the way many of us hoped. The results may put in danger much of the progress made over the past eight years in addressing environmental issues and even risk some earlier accomplishments. What’s done is done, however, and we need to think about how to move forward. The Bush years …
Continue reading “Defending the Environment in Dark Times”
CONTINUE READING