Pollution & Health

The (Somewhat Puzzling) Trajectory of CERCLA Litigation

The pattern of reported CERCLA opinions is puzzling — a steady rise until 1995, followed by a decline until 2002, followed by another rise through 2010. The explanation for the final period is unclear.

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Happy Birthday, CERCLA!

Thirty years ago today, Congress enacted the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Clean-up and Liability Act (a/k/a CERCLA or Superfund).  CERCLA’s primary thrust is to create liability for cleanup of leaking waste disposal sites.  The statute was Congress’s response to a number of high profile incidents, including the Love Canal debacle, that increased public awareness of the …

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EPA’s crime on its 40th birthday? Having accomplished too much

EPA head Lisa Jackson waded into hostile territory yesterday with a Wall St Journal editorial defending the agency and its work.  It’s EPA’s fortieth birthday, and she uses the occasion to acknowledge forthrightly that “[w]e reach this milestone exactly one month after the midterm elections strengthened the influence of groups and individuals who threaten to roll back …

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Bottles and cans, bisphenol-A, and chemical regulation

The online magazine Yale Environment 360 has published an informative and rather frightening interview with Frederick vom Saal, a biologist at the University of Missouri’s Endocrine Disruptors Group, about bisphenol-A and what he sees as a completely broken regulatory system for managing hazards from chemicals.  Elizabeth Kolbert, known recently for her stellar journalism in the New …

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Empty Plates

Many of us will have plenty of food on the table tomorrow.  Indeed, many of us will eat more than is really good for us.  But the U.N. reports that the global food situation is quite different, as explained by the NY Times: Global grain production will tumble by 63 million metric tons this year, …

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BP Deep Water Horizon Oil Commission Takes on All Sides

The Presidential BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling Commission released two new reports yesterday, on the effort to stop the spill and anotheron whether response and clean up technology has kept pace with technology developments for exploration.  The reports continue a really impressive pattern emerging from the Commission:  taking on hard questions, devoting …

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California Cap-and-Trade Math

In late October, California Air Resources Board (CARB) released their draft regulations for cap-and-trade under AB 32.  I looked at CARB’s proposed allocations: the cap, the offset percentage, the reserve percentage and the projected emissions level.  Running the numbers allows a few general observations: If covered emitters take full advantage of the 8% allowed offsets, …

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That Warm Fuzzy Cap-And-Trade Feeling

Cara asks if cap-and-trade skeptics like me still get excited at California’s Mini-Me version. The short answer (for me, at least) is yes. I’m all in favor of California rolling out its own version, and my hope has always been that the California Air Resources Board could develop a successful program that EPA could eventually …

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Jerry Brown and the Environment

During the campaign, Jerry Brown stressed environmental issues.  His campaign website has a very extensive list of proposed environmental policies.  It’ no surprise that he favors AB 32 and renewable energy, as well as vigorous enforcement of other existing environmental laws.  Some  of the other policies are a little less familiar.  Here are some that …

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Election review: what message did voters send about the environment, and how will politicians react?

It’s natural, in reflecting on the recent election, to ask whether and to what extent the results reflect public values about protection of the environment.  (Well, at least for me, since I spend my time thinking about these things.)  My answer: not much.  But the election’s impacts on environmental issues will still be significant. While …

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