Regulatory Policy
California’s Water Law Symposium–A Law Student Success Story
Students From Six Northern California Law Schools Collaborate in a Big and Unconventional Way
The 11th Annual Water Law Symposium was held last weekend at Golden Gate University Law School in San Francisco. The event drew a standing-room-only crowd of water law scholars, practitioners and policymakers, who devoted the day to a thoughtful and lively examination of how California’s constitutional law doctrine of reasonable use affects all facets of …
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CONTINUE READINGSolar Tariff Wars Heat Up
States that have helped boost rooftop solar installations through so-called net metering policies are beginning to scale back their subsidies under pressure from utilities. As ClimateWire reported today (here’s the link but it’s behind a paid subscription wall), Hawaii’s largest utility has just proposed rolling back the state’s net metering policy, joining Arizona, California, …
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CONTINUE READINGZero Trash
Using the Clean Water Act to Control Marine Debris in California
This post is cross-posted on EcoPerspectives, the environmental law and policy blog of the Vermont Journal of Environmental Law. Let’s talk trash. Human-generated stuff that ends up in the ocean, termed “marine debris” or “marine trash,” presents a critical ocean and coastal management challenge. Trash can be found on coastlines and in seawater worldwide, from …
CONTINUE READINGFood: Too Much and Too Little
Actual malnutrition among American children (weight more than two standard deviations below normal) is rare in the U.S. Most of the estimates that I found range around 1%. Still, there are roughly 45 million children under 12 in the U.S., so 1% amounts to almost half a million children. Malnutrition seems considerably more common among …
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CONTINUE READINGHow to Erode Public Confidence in Regulatory Decisions: Meet With Parties Behind Closed Doors
A scandal at the California Public Utilities Commissions brings a questionable practice to light.
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has an unusual way of doing business. Most state and federal regulatory agencies prohibit private, closed-door discussions with interested parties about contested matters (ex parte communications). Even though it makes decisions affecting the welfare of Californians and the disposition of billions of dollars, the CPUC does not discourage ex …
CONTINUE READINGProperty Rights and California Raisins: Headed to the Supreme Court–Again
Justices To Rule on Whether Feds’ Depression-Era Agricultural Regulations Unconstitutionally “Take” Farmers’ Property Without Compensation
The media and U.S. Supreme Court watchers have understandably focused on the justices’ order yesterday agreeing to review the constitutionality of state same-sex marriage bans–automatically making it the “blockbuster” issue before the Court this Term. Largely overshadowed by that news was the justices’ contemporaneous decision to revisit the interrelated issues of property rights, the Takings …
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CONTINUE READINGIs EPA Delaying Clean Power Plan Rule to Modify the Proposed Rule for New Power Plants?
EPA announced this week that it will delay issuing both its final Clean Power Plan for greenhouse gases emitted from existing power plants as well as proposed rules for new coal and natural gas fired plants. The agency said it needs the extra time to respond to the 4 million comments it received and to …
CONTINUE READINGCan We Control Climate Change and Still Have Economic Growth? (Part II)
It’s all in the timing.
Yesterday’s post discussed economic growth and how it relates in principle to carbon emissions. Basically, economic growth just means that people will be getting goods and services they prefer over today’s goods and service. There’s no intrinsic reason why the “better” bundle necessarily has to involve more carbon. In fact, it could involve a lot less carbon. …
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CONTINUE READINGCan We Control Climate Change and Still Have Economic Growth? (Part I)
What do we mean by “economic growth”? Does it always mean more carbon?
The Washington Post recently had a column arguing that even climate advocates and scientists are in denial, for thinking that we can have economic growth and still fight climate change. is that true? It’s useful to take some time to think through what we mean by economic growth and how that relates to carbon emissions. …
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CONTINUE READINGU.S.-China Climate Pact and Domestic Politics
Alex Wang and I Consider the Domestic Ramifications in Both the U.S. and China
The news from Beijing this week that the U.S. and China are committing to ambitious goals on climate change is, we think, monumental. No two countries are more important to tackling the problem than the largest carbon emitter over the past two centuries, the U.S., and the largest current emitter, China. While many observers are …
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