Are Obama’s Climate Pledges Really That “Legally Durable”?
In his December 16 ACOEL post Professor Robert Percival concludes that President Obama’s Paris GHG reduction pledges are most likely “legally durable.” Two of his key points: (1) EPA’s Clean Power...
View ArticleWHY, WHY DO I LOVE PARIS
The Paris Agreement resulting from the COP21 Climate Conference was extraordinary, far better than any of the pundit “experts” expected (indeed most were predicting gloom and doom until the very last...
View ArticleLegal Implications of the Paris Agreement for Fossil Fuels
The Paris Agreement on climate change reached on December 12, 2015 has a heavily negotiated sentence that, when closely read, seems to call for the virtual end of fossil fuel use in this...
View ArticleThe Supreme Court Stay of the Clean Power Plan and the Paris Pledges
The Supreme Court’s unprecedented, unexpected and unexplained action yesterday staying implementation of the Clean Power Plan is one of the most environmentally harmful judicial actions of all time....
View ArticleThe Supreme Court Doesn’t Think Much of Paris in the Springtime
For us gray hairs, the phrase used to be “Dateline”, now it’s “Tweetline” . . . Flash!. . . President Obama @POTUS “. . . Addressing climate change takes all of us, especially the private...
View ArticleTaking Colin to the Limit One More Time
This post started as a piece about a recent Fifth Circuit decision: Texas v. EPA. In that case, the state of Texas (and others) challenge EPA’s disapproval of Texas’s (and Oklahoma’s) plans for...
View ArticleWhat Happens When the Green New Deal Meets the Old Green Laws?
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Ed Markey made headlines when introducing the Green New Deal resolution to Congress. Within milliseconds, contesting waves of support and opposition...
View ArticleSomeone Left the Cake Out in the Rain: The Dissolution of Cooperative...
The Trump Administration’s recent lawsuit against California’s climate change policies has cast a spotlight on a stark and troubling reality. U.S. v. California is just the latest salvo in a...
View ArticleEPA’s Game Plan on Federalism -- Block-by-Block
I commend Vicki Arroyo’s recent elegy on the Dissolution of Cooperative Federalism in the Trump Era. both for its eloquence and its restraint. To paraphrase, the Trump Administration’s lawsuit against...
View ArticleWhat Judges Are Saying About Climate Science
It’s amazing how quickly humanity’s concern can shift when circumstances demand it, and the coronavirus pandemic has riveted our attention. In this hour, talking about anything else risks seeming...
View Article