Politics
Revised SLCP Strategy Demonstrates the Impact of SB 1383
Many in the environmental community, myself included, heralded the passage of SB 1383 in the California legislature. This bill is the first state law to target short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs), and it codified the reduction goals that ARB had adopted as part of its general GHG reduction agenda. This is not a trivial accomplishment – …
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CONTINUE READINGTurnabout is Fair Play
The same tools that have been used to stymie the Obama Administration can be turned against Trump.
Conservatives and industry have perfected some legal tools to block regulation by the Obama Administration. Those tools can be turned against them, by using the same tools to block anti-regulatory moves by the Trump Administration. As a professor, I don’t necessarily agree with all of them. But as a lawyer, I wouldn’t hesitate to use them …
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CONTINUE READINGSearching for Votes in the Senate
Q: Can the Dems scrounge up the votes to block anti-environment actions? A: Maybe.
Paul Ryan and Donald Trump have vowed to roll back many environmental protections. The Senate seems to be the one barrier against anti-environmental moves by Congress. How strong is that barrier? The answer depends in part on whether the filibuster option remains open. If the filibuster rule remains intact, the Democrats’ 48 votes in the Senate …
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CONTINUE READINGTrump’s Public Statements Aren’t Relevant in Assessing His Likely Climate Policy
The Media Need to Take Trump’s Advisors, and Their Policy Proposals, More Seriously Than They Take Trump’s Off-the-Cuff Comments
The media need to get their act together when they report and editorialize about President-elect Donald Trump’s public statements. Chief among many failures in reporting on the campaign was the tendency of major newspapers and television outlets to focus on candidates’ rhetoric, symbolism, and character, to the virtual exclusion of governance and policy. This contributed …
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CONTINUE READINGBe 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 …
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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 …
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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 …
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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, …
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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 …
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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 …
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