Legal Planet

MARCH 21, 2024

In West Virginia v. EPA , the Supreme Court struck down the Obama-era Clean Power Plan. The heart of the ruling was that EPA had engaged in a power grab, basing an unprecedented expansion of its regulatory authority on an obscure provision of the statute. Conservative groups have claimed since then that virtually every government regulation raises a major question.

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Legal Planet

MARCH 19, 2024

The “War Against Coal” was a major conservative theme eight years ago. Now it seems almost forgotten even by Donald Trump, who was once coal’s caped crusader. But although protecting coal production is no longer much of a national issue, keeping coal-fired power plants open has percolated as an issue at the state level. It remains to be seen how long increasingly uneconomic coal generators remain online.

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Legal Planet

MARCH 19, 2024

The Salton Sea “Voice, agency, and meaningful compensation.” Those are the things that California Tribal Affairs Secretary Christina Snider-Ashtari said must be granted in exchange to some communities bearing the brunt of the energy transition and the new mineral boom, as recounted in Part One of this series. All week, my colleagues and I are sharing summaries, outcomes, and insights from our recent “Powering the Future” symposium.

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Legal Planet

MARCH 18, 2024

Tiehm’s buckwheat photo by Patrick Donnelly/Center for Biological Diversity A couple hundred miles north of the Las Vegas strip at Rhyolite Ridge you’ll find a dusty yellow wildflower called Tiehm’s buckwheat that grows nowhere else in the world. But this flower sits atop a massive, untapped lithium reserve that would help the U.S. transition to cleaner energy.

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Legal Planet

MARCH 14, 2024

Who will lead the Senate in 2025? The odds are that it will be a Republican. Democrats have a slim margin and face some close races, while all the GOP seats seem secure. That makes the question of who will replace Mitch McConell as GOP leader all the more important for climate and energy policy. Here are two top possibilities. Neither of them is by any stretch of the imagination an environmentalist.

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Legal Planet

MARCH 13, 2024

China is the world’s largest producer of both CO2 emissions and green technology to cut those emissions. It installed more solar panels last year than the U.S. has in its history, and yet keeps building coal-fired plants too. And Chinese officials just announced that the country will accelerate the construction of solar, wind and hydropower. So, China plays an outsized and even paradoxical role in deploying clean energy technologies to address the climate crisis.

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MARCH 12, 2024

Last week, New Jersey lawmakers and a variety of stakeholders crammed into a statehouse committee room for a relatively rare legislative hearing. This 2-hour hearing centered on New Jersey’s proposed green amendment, which committee chair Senator Bob Smith described as “a very controversial topic” as he gaveled in the meeting. This green amendment would add a constitutional guarantee to a healthy, clean environment.

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Legal Planet

MARCH 11, 2024

A decade and a half ago, the law school here announced the launch of a new environmental law blog by Berkeley and UCLA. The March 11, 2009 press release began: “The University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (Berkeley Law) and UCLA School of Law today announced the launch of a new blog, Legal Planet, which provides insight and analysis on climate change, energy, and environmental law and policy.

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Legal Planet

MARCH 4, 2024

There is a lot of talk about weak consumer demand for EVs — doleful from greens, triumphant from others. Maybe US carmakers have hit a few speed bumps –not surprising when trying to rapidly ramp up a product that’s new to most consumers. But the reality is actually quite reassuring in terms of the U.S. market. Globally, the picture is even rosier for EVs, with the big open question being whether U.S. carmakers are going to be shoved to the curb by the Chinese.

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Legal Planet

FEBRUARY 22, 2024

In 1965, scientists sent LBJ a memo mentioning the risks of climate change. I magine if history had been a little different. Suppose it had been this memo and a follow-up report , rather than Rachel Carson’s attack on pesticides, that sparked the environmental movement. How would environmental law look different and how might we be thinking about it differently?

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Legal Planet

FEBRUARY 21, 2024

The Golden State has adopted a slew of climate change laws over the past twenty years, and an even greater number of regulations. To help you keep track, here is a timeline of California’s most important actions. 2002 SB1078. California established first renewable portfolio standard (20% from renewables by 2010). AB 1493 (Pavley Act). Required the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to set standards for greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) new vehicles. 2006 AB 32.

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Legal Planet

FEBRUARY 14, 2024

If you’re not a climate scientist—and maybe even if you are—reading news headlines this month has been confounding and a little scary. “In First, Earth’s Temperature Breached Key Threshold Over a 12 Month Period ” is how the Wall Street Journal put it. “ Earth Just Experienced 12 Months Of Global Temperatures Above Critical 1.5C Climate Threshold ,” was the version at Forbes.

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Legal Planet

FEBRUARY 14, 2024

Call me eccentric, but this is my Valentine to a federal statute, the Inflation Reduction Act, better known as the IRA. No one really expected IRA to pass. A version of the Green New Deal had passed the House. But the Democrats had only a one-vote margin in the Senate, and that one vote was Joe Manchin. Manchin was (and is) the least liberal Democrat in the Senate.

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Legal Planet

FEBRUARY 12, 2024

EPA has just issued a rule tightening the air quality standard for PM 2.5 — the tiny particles most dangerous to health — from an annual average of 12 μg/m³ (micrograms per cubic meter) down to 9 μg/m³. EPA estimates that, by the time the rule goes into effect in 2032, it will avoid 4500 premature deaths, 800,000 asthma attacks, and 290,000 lost workdays.

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Legal Planet

FEBRUARY 12, 2024

For those following offshore wind development in California, January 19, 2024, marked an important moment—the release of the long-awaited Draft Assembly Bill 525 Offshore Wind Strategic Plan from the California Energy Commission (CEC). Some important foundations for offshore wind, a new but growing industry in California, had already been laid. Assembly Bill 525 (AB 525, Chiu, Chapter 231, Statutes of 2021) lent momentum to the development of offshore wind in the state by identifying important n

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Legal Planet

JANUARY 25, 2024

Because NEPA’s discussion of environmental impact statements (EIS) was very brief, the requirements and procedures were elaborated by courts and guidance from a White House office. That changed in 2023, because much of the subject is now covered explicitly by new statutory language. Thus, NEPA is a bit less of a “common law” subject than it used to be.

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Legal Planet

JANUARY 24, 2024

Donald Trump could “F” the federal government. Literally. Far-right policy strategists are laying plans, largely endorsed by the Trump campaign, for getting rid of federal government workers who might otherwise stand in the way of a radical deregulation agenda. It’s called “Schedule F,” and it could be used to strip employment protections from as many as 50,000 federal employees.

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Legal Planet

JANUARY 16, 2024

Though I do not have a crystal ball — wish I did! — there are some clear markers we can evaluate to foresee environmental priorities, and possibilities, as we start another exciting year in the California Legislature. The California Legislature kicked off the 2024 session on January 3 with notable changes in leadership. Robert Rivas, who represents the 29Assembly District, primarily based in Salinas, began his first full term as Speaker of the Assembly.

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Legal Planet

JANUARY 15, 2024

“A genuine revolution of values means in the final analysis that our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. Every nation must now develop an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve the best in their individual societies.” Those words are from a 1967 speech delivered at Riverside Church by Dr. King about the Vietnam War.

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Legal Planet

DECEMBER 28, 2023

(Credit: Bet Hannon Business) While there’s a great deal that’s dysfunctional and downright wrong about water law and policy in California, occasionally there are positive developments to report. So it’s most satisfying to end 2023 with some good news regarding water in the Golden State. This is the saga of how the Westlands Water District tried to privatize a permanent supply of massive amounts of California water from a government-operated water project; the remarkable coali

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Legal Planet

DECEMBER 28, 2023

A lot has happened this year, with political turmoil in the House of Representatives, indictments of Donald Trump and associates, and a close scrape with default on the national debt. In the world of energy and environment, the picture has also been mixed, but with more good than bad. The Good. California enacted two major laws requiring corporations to disclose their carbon emissions and financial risks relating to climate change.

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Legal Planet

DECEMBER 19, 2023

The climate crisis is a public health crisis, and it finally seems global leaders have recognized that fact. With the backdrop of the first-ever Health Day at the annual UN climate conference, air quality in Dubai soared, as PM2.5 pollution reached 155 micrograms per cubic unit. The World Health Organization states the annual average concentrations of PM2.5 should not exceed five µg/m3.

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Legal Planet

DECEMBER 19, 2023

Like everyone else, I’m sure you find fundraising appeals annoying. That’s why we only do them two days a year on Legal Planet. But there couldn’t be a more important time for the work we do. This has been the hottest year on record. It’s really now or never to address climate change. That means that the environmental work we do at Berkeley and UCLA remains as urgent as ever.

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Legal Planet

DECEMBER 19, 2023

By far, the most ubiquitous figure at COP28 was that of John Kerry. The U.S. climate envoy strolled through the labyrinthine and confusing alleys of Dubai’s Expo City wearing an impeccable suit despite the almost 100-degree Fahrenheit winter weather of the United Arab Emirates. When he wasn’t walking, he was talking about methane, earning him the nickname Mr.

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Legal Planet

DECEMBER 18, 2023

Having read a lot of takes on the outcome of the latest UN climate conclave, I wanted to see for myself what the agreement says. The key provision in the latest international agreement on emissions reduction is section 28 of Article 2(A). It states the position of the Conference of the Parties — the consensus position of all 200 countries — emission reductions.

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Legal Planet

DECEMBER 18, 2023

Graphic by Danielle Anz It’s an understatement to say that 2023 was a transformative year for the U.S. climate movement. We saw rapid implementation of landmark federal climate laws, a series of big actions on methane emissions , a deal on Colorado River water usage, and bigger-than-expected climate victories in Sacramento. EPA’s control of toxic chemicals was tested , the U.S. renewed talks with China (so did California’s governor ), and young people won big in a first-of-its-kind climate trial

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Legal Planet

DECEMBER 12, 2023

Graphic by Danielle Anz At the United Nations climate conference known as COP28, it was easy to come to the realization that we must confront every aspect of the climate crisis, and we must do it right now. That includes transforming our food systems. Agriculture has historically been left out of the conversation at COP. That changed this year with the Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems, and Climate Action , which was signed by 134 world leaders.

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Legal Planet

DECEMBER 12, 2023

A case decided by the Third Circuit last week is important for two reasons. It clarifies an important procedural issue applying to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). And it upholds an important policy shift regarding renewable energy by the country’s largest grid operator. Since you’re probably more interested in the second point than the first one —unless you’re a real administrative law geek— let’s start with that one.

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Legal Planet

DECEMBER 11, 2023

It’s hard to keep up with the deluge of climate news around COP28. Climate damages are growing. Carbon budgets are running out. Temperature records are being re-written. Despite new pledges, climate action remains hugely insufficient and grossly unfair. And the world may be unable to avoid passing critical climate tipping points. That last comes from a new review of the state of Global Tipping Points , produced by more than 200 scholars, coordinated from the University of Exeter, UK, and funded

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Legal Planet

DECEMBER 11, 2023

If 2022 was a Rivian with all the bells and whistles, this past year was more a Ford Lightning. After a landmark 2022—a record $54 billion committed to climate spending and legislation that codified the state’s goals of carbon neutrality by 2045 and 90 percent clean electricity by 2035—a significantly gloomier budget forecast gave rise to fears that California’s climate programs would take a hit.

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Legal Planet

NOVEMBER 30, 2023

Scientists are warning us that even comparatively small changes in average temperature may have disastrous results. If you turn up your thermostat 2 ºC (about 3.6 ºF), the difference may be noticeable but it’s no big deal. So why is that a scary increase in global temperatures? Some reasons are physical, particularly the difference between being one degree below freezing versus one degree above.

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Legal Planet

NOVEMBER 22, 2023

Many law schools consider public service a key part of their missions. More than most people appreciate, they play an important role in public policy in areas as diverse as intellectual property, criminal justice, and environmental law. Research centers are an increasingly common institutional setting for that work. With that in mind, I’ve tried to put together a list of environmental law centers.

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Legal Planet

NOVEMBER 21, 2023

Illustration by Danielle Anz The chances for a productive COP28—the U.N. climate talks that get underway Nov. 30 in Dubai—got a big boost from the recent climate agreement between the U.S. and China, the world’s two biggest polluters. Announced just before President Joe Biden and China leader Xi Jinping met at the APEC Summit in San Francisco, the Sunnylands Statement on Enhancing Cooperation to Address the Climate Crisis was negotiated by Climate Envoy John Kerry and his Chinese counterpart X

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Legal Planet

NOVEMBER 20, 2023

The automotive world is changing quickly. Most of the trends are mutually reinforcing. But one points in the opposite direction. The first and most obvious trend is the rise of EVs. In the twenty years since Tesla arrived, EVs have gone from 0.2% of new cars to 13%, and Bloomberg predicts that this figure will nearly double in the next few years. According to the Economist , by 2040 about three-quarters of global sales will be EV even under conservative assumptions.

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Legal Planet

NOVEMBER 6, 2023

Each year since 1995, the countries of the world have gathered to negotiate what to do about climate change. They do so under the auspices of the Framework Convention on Climate Change , the universally adopted climate change treaty that sets a goal of avoiding dangerous interference with the climate system. Those talks have had ups and downs through the years and have resulted in (among other things) the adoption of the Paris Agreement.

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Legal Planet

NOVEMBER 6, 2023

We’re now a year away from Election Day, but things are already starting to heat up. And the outcome couldn’t be more important. The next election could transform U.S. environmental policy, for better or worse. A GOP trifecta in 2024 would put Trump in the White House with GOP control of Congress. That would be at best a replay of 2017-2019 in terms of environmental policy.

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Legal Planet

NOVEMBER 2, 2023

Diagram of Hydraulic Fracturing (Credit: BBC News) Recently, the New York Times published an important and disturbing expose’ titled, “‘Monster Fracks’ Are Getting Far Bigger. And Far Thirstier.” The Times article focuses on the alarming intersection of three current environmental crises–water supply shortages, groundwater contamination, and excessive greenhouse gas emission levels–that threaten California and other states across the nation.

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