Pollution & Health
Why the San Fernando Valley Ruined Everything
Jonathan is right that the San Fernando Valley is trying its best to maximize the land use around its two subway stations, considering the slow pace of legalizing these developments. But part of my problem with the extension of the subway to the San Fernando Valley is not just the land use around the two …
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CONTINUE READINGEconomy v. Environment Directly at Issue in Lifting of Drilling Ban
As oil continues to gush into the gulf — more bad news on that front today — a federal judge with financial ties to the oil drilling industry has issued an injunction lifting the federal government’s moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf. The legal intricacies of the lifting of the ban, while interesting to …
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CONTINUE READINGFumigants Take Center Stage in California
I wrote previously about the strange story of methyl iodide, a chemical purposely used by researchers to cause cancer in labs, being proposed for use as a fumigant for strawberry production in California. The New York Times recently covered a legislative hearing by the California Senate Food and Agriculture Committee in which the members of an external scientific review panel lambasted California …
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CONTINUE READINGToxic Chemicals (3)
This is the third (and for now, the last) in a series of posts on toxic chemicals. Like the earlier two, it addresses a recent paper on the subject, This one, by Vermont’s Martha Judy and RFF’s Katherine Probst, is about “Superfund at 30.” Superfund — more officially the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Clean-up …
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CONTINUE READINGNewsHour Segment: Can Obama Require BP to Form an Escrow Fund?
Steve Yerrid, a Florida trial lawyers, and I discuss this with Ray Suarez on the NewsHour. Bottom line: the answer isn’t very clear, although OPA sec. 1005(a) does require BP to establish a process for “the payment or settlement of claims for interim, short-term damages” that might encompass an escrow and independent decision-makers. It will …
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CONTINUE READINGToxic Chemicals (1)
As it happens, I saw three new papers about toxics regulation at about the same time recently. Between the three, they give a clear picture about the U.S. stance on toxic chemicals. I’ll discuss the papers in separate posts this week. The first paper, by David Markell of FSU, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). …
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CONTINUE READINGCalifornia Ocean Science Trust Releases Study Evaluating Alternatives for Decommissioning California’s Offshore Oil and Gas Platforms
Last week, the California Ocean Science Trust released a long-awaited study that synthesizes scientific and legal information to inform policymakers and stakeholders on alternative paths for the decommissioning of California’s offshore oil and gas platforms. 27 of these platforms operate off the coast of California, and eventually all of them will stop producing fossil fuel …
CONTINUE READINGA Corporate Culture of Criminal Recklessness?
Could the Gulf blowout have been prevented if BP had been prosecuted for some of its earlier reckless conduct?
CONTINUE READINGBP’s pollution: not just the oil spill, according to The Onion
I can’t resist pointing out this article from America’s Finest News Source, The Onion, about the BP spill (continuing Dan’s introduction of off-color expressions into Legal Planet). The Onion mocks BP’s handling of the oil spill by characterizing the company as spewing out something else rather vile (a common expression for insincere or deceitful talk) from its …
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CONTINUE READINGReflections on the BP disaster and today’s Bhopal criminal verdict
As Dan has pointed out, there has been discussion of possible criminal liability for BP for its conduct leading to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. David Uhlmann of the University of Michigan, a former federal environmental criminal prosecutor, has expressed optimism that a robust criminal prosecution of BP would appropriately punish BP, make it more likely …
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