Regulation
Judge Sotomayor’s Environmental Record
Now that President Obama has nominated her for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s record as a federal court judge will be under the microscope. Political pundits, legal scholars and advocacy groups from across the political spectrum will all be scrutinizing Sotomayor’s extensive record as a federal …
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CONTINUE READINGSharing the catch
According to Science Insider (subscription required), NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco has endorsed broader use of a “catch shares” approach to allocating the available catch in commercial fisheries. The shares strategy (also referred to as “individual transferable quotas” or “limited access privileges”) gives individual participants in the fishery a permanent and transferable right to a set …
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CONTINUE READINGShould State Cap and Trade Programs Be Preempted?
My general sense is that most environmentalists disfavor federal preemption of state climate change policy making. States have led the way on progressive climate policy during the eight years of federal inaction under Bush, enacting renewable portfolio standards (29 states), greenhouse gas emissions caps (covering more than half the states), utility performance standards (four states), …
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CONTINUE READINGA Good Week for Environmental Federalism
This has been a very good week for proponents of environmental federalism. On Tuesday, President Obama convened a Rose Garden ceremony to announce first-ever federal regulatory mandates specifically designed to address global warming. The federal government’s new CAFE standards for new cars and light trucks, beginning with the 2012 model year, will simultaneously reduce greenhouse …
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CONTINUE READINGBroadening the “scientific integrity” discussion
Scientific integrity was a high-profile issue under the last administration, but only in a very negative sense, with a continual drumbeat of stories accusing the Bush White House and political appointees of interfering with the proper role of science. President Obama has brought new positive attention to the topic, first with his inaugural address promise …
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CONTINUE READINGCaveat Preemptor
President Obama issued a “memorandum” for heads of departments and agencies. (I guess this must be technically different from an “executive order” but I’m not sure it matters: an order from the Boss is an order from the Boss is an order from the Boss.) The memo contains a reminder about the importance of federalism …
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CONTINUE READINGAuto Emissions Deal–Enough Credit to Go Around?
The announcement of the deal on auto emissions was roundly hailed as a remarkable achievement of the Obama Administration. There is no arguing with the notion that it was dramatic, both in terms of the bargaining process and the outcome. The Los Angeles Times today provided a behind-the-scenes view of the months-long negotiations, including everything …
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CONTINUE READINGEnvironmental Hubris: Another Proposed “Fix” for the California Delta
Recently, California state water officials announced with considerable fanfare their latest technological “fix” for the environmental ills that have in recent years befallen the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The largest estuary on the West Coast of the Americas, the Delta is in serious environmental decline–as scientists have carefully documented and which no one disputes at this …
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CONTINUE READINGObama’s Bold New Auto Standards
In what is a huge victory for California and a strong national commitment to more fuel efficient cars, the New York Times is reporting that the Obama administration will grant California its waiver to issue tough greenhouse gas emissions standards while at the same time combining those standards with a new national Corporate Automotive Fuel …
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CONTINUE READINGDisaster Law
Disaster issues have several links to environmental law. Perhaps the most obvious is that climate change is likely to cause a sharp increase in the number of extreme weather events such as floods and heat waves. Less obviously, disaster law is the flip side of environmental law, concerned with how nature impacts us rather than …
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