Legal Planet

"Provides insight and analysis on energy and environmental law and policy. The blog draws upon the individual research strengths and vast expertise of the law schools’ legal scholars and think tanks. Our goal is to fill a unique space on the blogosphere, not only by bridging the worlds of law and policy, but also by translating the latest developments in a way that’s understandable to a mass audience. We write about U.S. Supreme Court decisions, regulatory actions, and state and national legislation that affects water resource management, toxic waste disposal, renewable energy, air quality, land use, and more.The global challenge of climate change is the driver behind our work."

Author: Eric Biber, Holly Doremus, Dan Farber, Richard Frank, Cymie Payne and Steve Weissman are faculty members at the University of California at Berkeley School of Law; Ann Carlson, Ethan Elkind, Sean Hecht, Cara Horowitz, Timothy Malloy and Jonathan Zasloff are faculty members at the University of California at Los Angeles School of Law

Recent Posts from Legal Planet

One-Stop Shopping for Climate Information
CITRIS, which is a University of California engineering consortium, has a really useful site called Climate Navigator. The site is a great source of information about the many dimensions of climate change, from policy to…
This Week on Legal Planet
Nov 06 A New Beginning for the California Delta? Early this past Wednesday morning, following an all-night session that would have made any college freshman proud, the California Legislature enacted… [read more] Nov 05 California…
A New Beginning for the California Delta?
Early this past Wednesday morning, following an all-night session that would have made any college freshman proud, the California Legislature enacted major legislation designed to address the myriad problems affecting California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The…
California water deal struck (just in time for UCLA event)
After months (years) of negotations, the California legislature has passed what many are calling the most comprehensive California water legislation in half a century. The task was difficult: Figure out a way to fix our…
The Cost of Climate Change
According to Climate Wire, the Obama Administration is trying to come up with a reliable economic estimate of the cost of unchecked climate change. This sounds like a great idea but is actually full of…
Don’t diss local climate action
I can’t let this one pass unremarked. Seth Jaffe, writing in the Boston law firm Foley Hoag’s “Law and the Environment” blog, uses Portland Oregon’s recent release of an updated draft Climate Action Plan as…
Journal watch
I’ve been catching up on some reading. Here are links to a few interesting recent journal articles. Thomas Dietz, Gerald T. Gardner, Jonathan Gilligan, Paul C. Stern, and Michael P. Vandenbergh, Household Actions Can Provide…
India’s Prime Minister Slaps Down Attempts at New Climate Negotiating Policy
Well, so much for that: Faced with resistance from within and outside to his advocacy for a dramatic change of stand on climate change negotiations,environment minister Jairam Ramesh was in a damage control mode on…
Hot off the press at Ecology Law Quarterly
Ecology Law Quarterly has a new issue available online, featuring articles about global environmental law; standing; and NRDC v. Winter; as well as a review of Doremus and Tarlock on the Klamath Basin. Browse the…
Bad News on the Climate Bill
According to the Post, The climate-change bill that has been moving slowly through the Senate will face a stark political reality when it emerges for committee debate on Tuesday: With Democrats deeply divided on the…