Water
Environmental Justice, Metrics & California’s San Joaquin Valley
This week the California Environmental Protection Agency issued a disturbing but worthwhile report on environmental justice issues in California. That report confirms what many environmental justice advocates and state residents already assumed: that the San Joaquin Valley is–far and away–the most environmentally-challenged region of the state. According to the CalEPA press release accompanying the report, …
Continue reading “Environmental Justice, Metrics & California’s San Joaquin Valley”
CONTINUE READINGSome Good News on California’s Water Planning
Last week at this time, I objected to an Associated Press piece showing how California has left unspent nearly $500 million worth of funds for water projects. At the end of article, there was a little note saying, “oh yes; experts think that California will need nearly $39 billion to update its water infrastructure.” Talk …
Continue reading “Some Good News on California’s Water Planning”
CONTINUE READINGEarth Day perspectives
I really like this post over at Slate giving 15 fun facts about the Earth on Earth Day. My favorite is number 14: “If you took all the water on Earth and collected it into a single drop, it would be just less than 1,400 kilometers (860 miles) across.” This comes with a neat visual: …
Continue reading “Earth Day perspectives”
CONTINUE READINGCalifornia’s Unspent Water Funds: An Instinct for the Capillary
The AP reports today that California has failed to spend $455 million of federal money for improving the state’s water infrastructure, even though many of the state’s communities suffer from unclean water. The state has received more than $1.5 billion for its Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund over the past 15 years, but has failed …
Continue reading “California’s Unspent Water Funds: An Instinct for the Capillary”
CONTINUE READINGHydraulic Fracking in California: New Report Addresses Wastewater and Potential Water Impacts
Today, Berkeley Law released a new report on hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) in California, focusing on wastewater and potential water quality impacts. The report, Regulation of Hydraulic Fracturing in California: A Wastewater and Water Quality Perspective, is an independent analysis produced by Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment (CLEE) through its new initiative, the Wheeler …
CONTINUE READINGU.S. Bureau of Land Management Violated NEPA When Selling Oil and Gas Leases in California
On April 8, a federal magistrate judge issued the first major ruling in a California fracking lawsuit, finding that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by failing to take the necessary “hard look” at the impact of hydraulic fracturing when it sold oil and gas leases in California. …
CONTINUE READINGDear Washington Post: Chesapeake Bay *is* unbalanced
An article in the Washington Post yesterday ran with the headline, “Crabs, supersized by carbon pollution, may upset Chesapeake’s balance.” Not to nitpick, but Chesapeake Bay is unbalanced and has been that way for well over a century. The article references some interesting research from the University of North Carolina that looks at the effects …
Continue reading “Dear Washington Post: Chesapeake Bay *is* unbalanced”
CONTINUE READINGWhen streamlining environmental review really means undermining it
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee has unanimously endorsed S 601, the Water Resources Development Act of 2013. Although it’s nice to see some bipartisanship in the capitol — S 601 is co-sponsored by Committee chair Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and ranking minority member David Vitter (R-LA) — the bill as approved by the Committee …
Continue reading “When streamlining environmental review really means undermining it”
CONTINUE READINGThe Economic Approach to Handling Water Scarcity in New Mexico
The New York Times alerts its urban readers in the Northeast (including my Manhattan parents) about drought in the West and in particular in New Mexico. To an economist, its a pinch surprising that the vaunted Times doesn’t mention the price of water in New Mexico. Being an adept user of the Internet, I spent …
Continue reading “The Economic Approach to Handling Water Scarcity in New Mexico”
CONTINUE READINGCongress Increases Climate Research Funding!
…even if they didn’t intend to. The Republican War on Science has morphed into a more general war on knowledge. As Dan has pointed out previously, the GOP has now declared war on social science funding, and particularly on political science. Last night, the Senate accepted the amendment of Senator Tom Coburn (R – Olduvai …
Continue reading “Congress Increases Climate Research Funding!”
CONTINUE READINGJoin Our Mailing List
Climate policy is changing rapidly. Stay in the loop with expert analysis via email Monday - Friday.
