Politics
Newsflash: Senate Passes TSCA Reform
A New Chapter In the Effort To Reform Federal Chemical Regulation For the First Time in 40 Years
In a striking turn of events, last night the Senate passed a newly revised version of the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, which would reform the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for the first time in four decades. A summary of the bill’s provisions and analysis of the differences between …
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CONTINUE READINGHow do we move past the yuck factor in potable water reuse?
This post draws on two recently published articles (here and here) by an international group of collaborators: Christian Binz, Sasha Harris-Lovett, Bernhard Truffer, David Sedlak, and myself, courtesy of the ReNUWIt program. Potable water reuse is increasingly seen as a potential way to help ease urban water supply challenges. Potable reuse is as it sounds …
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CONTINUE READINGA Moveable Climate Feast?
Paris and the future politics of climate change
Back in 1920s Paris, an unknown writer named Ernest Hemingway hung out in the local cafes with other aspiring artists. It was an odd group, featuring communists like Pablo Picasso, fascists like Ezra Pound, and right-wingers like Gertrude Stein. But they helped each other, promoting their work and ultimately producing a generation of famous artists …
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CONTINUE READINGWhy Alberta’s Carbon Tax Matters
Combating Climate Change Will Require Reversing Three-Decade Trend of Political Economy
While Americans were preparing for our Thanksgiving, in the Great White North, a major new development occurred: the NDP (i.e. Social Democratic) government in Alberta — Canada’s major energy-producing province — announced an economy-wide carbon tax starting in 2017 and a cap on emissions from oil sands. This would be an aggressive move anywhere in the …
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CONTINUE READINGEmmett Institute updates from the Climate Conference
UCLA faculty and students participating in COP21/CMP11
For two weeks starting today, negotiators gather in Paris for the annual climate-change meetings – officially, the 21st Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the 11th Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (COP 21/CMP11). The meeting is located in a sprawling conference center at the edge …
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CONTINUE READINGGoodbye, Keystone, Goodbye
After seven years, the project is history.
The President announced this morning that he would not approve the Keystone pipeline project. This wasn’t a huge surprise at this point of the game. Still, it’s a good time to take stock of the dispute. The fight was largely — but not entirely — symbolic. With falling oil prices, the alternative of rail transport …
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CONTINUE READINGDon’t Blame Canada Anymore
Climate Policy Triumphs Over South Park in New Trudeau Government
We Americans tend to think of Canadians as nice, friendly, well-intentioned folk, a little more left-of-center than the US — sort of what Blue America would be if it didn’t have to deal with the south. For the last 10 years, though, that has been anything but true: the Conservative government of Stephen Harper brought …
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CONTINUE READINGDueling California Drought Relief Bills Debated on Capitol Hill
Stark Differences Emerge Between Competing House and Senate Bills
What can and should the federal government do to assist the State of California in weathering the worst drought in recorded state history? While the U.S. House of Representatives is embroiled in a chaotic political debate over selection of a new House Speaker, the more deliberate consideration of new legislation continues apace in the Senate. …
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CONTINUE READINGDuPont Found Liable In First of 3,500 Lawsuits
Chemical Used in Teflon Linked to Numerous Health Problems, but its Use is Still Legal Under TSCA
Yesterday, a jury in the Southern District of Ohio found DuPont liable for a woman’s kidney cancer in the first of 3,500 suits the company faces. The cases all stem from DuPont’s use and disposal of perflourooctanoic acid (PFOA) or C8. The chemical is used to make Teflon, among other things, and the most recent …
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CONTINUE READINGCalifornia Enshrines Renewables And Energy Efficiency 2030 Goals — And Maybe Greenhouse Gas Goals, Too
Buried provision in the bill codifies long-term climate goals in the context of vehicle electrification
Today Governor Jerry Brown signed SB 350 (De Leon), a landmark bill that pledges California to a 50% renewable goal by 2030, as well as a doubling of energy efficiency in existing buildings by that date. Despite the environmental win, it’s been well-reported by the media and others that California’s environmental leaders got beaten pretty …
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