A new Trump Administration rule restricts which organizations qualify as engaging in public service. @dfarber1950.bsky.social legal-planet.org/2025/11/10/a...

Under the guise of exempting environmentally beneficial projects from CEQA this year, the CA legislature instead created a broad exemption for all kinds of industrial activity, like pistachio processing and metal forging, among others. Details on @legal-planet.org: legal-planet.org/2025/11/05/o...

Such a useful news roundup!

Your morning fix is becoming more expensive thanks to the dangerous duo of climate change and Donald Trump. This week: a look at climate impacts on coffee, COP30, Climate Leader lists, Billie Eilish, and a response to Bill Gates. 🧵 legal-planet.org/2025/11/04/c...

Your coffee is more expensive thanks to the dangerous duo of climate change and Donald Trump. But Trump tariffs — at SCOTUS this week — are tame compared to the climate crisis. I saw firsthand why this is happening on a trip to Acre, Brazil where I met coffee farmers legal-planet.org/2025/11/04/c...

The Supreme Court’s ruling on Trump tariffs could open doors legally for some future environmental actions. @dfarber1950.bsky.social legal-planet.org/2025/11/04/p...

The Supreme Court will be considering legal arguments about the validity of Trump's tariffs. However the Court ultimately rules, therre will be ways for environmentalists to exploit the ruling, now or later. Here's how. legal-planet.org/2025/11/04/p...

The price of coffee keeps rising due to climate change and tariffs. A report from Brazil in this week's installment of The Drain, our weekly roundup of environmental and climate news. legal-planet.org/2025/11/04/c...

We’re now one year from Election Day 2026. Because of polarization, environmental policy is closely tied to political party. The outcome of the election will shape environmental policy. @dfarber1950.bsky.social legal-planet.org/2025/11/03/t...

We're one year from the federal off-year elections.So much is at stake. Here's what things look like as of today. A lot could change, but the bottom line is that Dems have their work cut out for them. Tomorrow's state races will provide an additional clue. legal-planet.org/2025/11/03/t...

Will technology save us? It might have to. Battery innovations provide at least some source for hope despite the Trump Administration’s war on renewable energy. @uclalawemmett.bsky.social legal-planet.org/2025/10/31/w...

"When I think about sources of LA’s air pollution, I don’t first think about water heaters, boilers, and other medium-scale appliances. But appliances that burn natural gas to heat water are, in aggregate, an incredibly significant source of nitrogen oxides." legal-planet.org/2025/10/30/a...

"Very few of the stories, videos, investigative reports, and columns in The Los Angeles Times in the months that followed made any mention of climate change. I know because I counted." legal-planet.org/2025/10/29/w...

The Administration’s search for a vast leftwing conspiracy could ensnare some environmental groups. @dfarber1950.bsky.social on the "New McCarthyism" legal-planet.org/2025/10/28/t...

California is paving the way for the creation of an independent regional organization to oversee Western energy markets. It can learn from mistakes made in other regions. @uclalawemmett.bsky.social legal-planet.org/2025/10/28/3...

The recent Manila protests over environment funds follow a rich tradition. Here’s a look at Filipino-led protests for environmental justice during Filipino American History Month. legal-planet.org/2025/10/23/r...

Is Yosemite OK? It is, for now. Despite the Trump administration taking a chainsaw to the staffing, funding, and morale of our National Parks. @evanlgeorge.bsky.social legal-planet.org/2025/10/22/i...

Whoops, someone forgot to put it on the White House calendar. October 17-31 has now been proclaimed to be “National Energy Dominance Month.” Classic. @dfarber1950.bsky.social legal-planet.org/2025/10/20/g...

Not all Republicans are ready to snuff out solar plus storage. Reacting to the Esmerelda 7 cancellation, Utah’s Republican Gov. Spencer Cox opined that “this is how we lose the AI/energy arms race with China.” Much more on climate politics from the week at The Drain. legal-planet.org/2025/10/14/d...

This new UCLA @uclalawemmett.bsky.social report by @denisegrab.bsky.social, “The Cost & Carbon of Competing Utility Models,” compares municipally owned electric utilities and investor-owned utilities. legal-planet.org/2025/10/15/w...

This year’s Nobel Prize in Economics was split among three economists whose work doesn’t focus on energy or the environment but has really important implications regarding the energy transition. @dfarber1950.bsky.social legal-planet.org/2025/10/14/t...

Arson was the focus of attention last week in news of the destructive Palisades fire. But the fire’s nearly unprecedented intensity had less to do with how it started, and more to do with the climate and weather conditions that fueled it. @evanlgeorge.bsky.social legal-planet.org/2025/10/14/d...

Friday’s layoff announcements at CDC targeted infectious disease control. @dfarber1950.bsky.social legal-planet.org/2025/10/13/t...

What does Space Law have to do with environmental law? Satellites pollute in more ways than you think. @uclalawemmett.bsky.social legal-planet.org/2025/10/13/w...

Two energy reports out this week paint a clear picture of the future that may await us. Solar and wind are winning. So is China. @evanlgeorge.bsky.social @greenlawchina.bsky.social legal-planet.org/2025/10/09/s...

Trump's "compact" with universities is a dire threat to free speech and academic freedom. It will also pressure universities to shy away from teaching and research relating to climate change and renewable energy. Here's a detailed explainer. legal-planet.org/2025/10/08/a...

An important bill that seeks to protect ratepayers from subsidizing utility lobbying still awaits Governor Newsom’s signature. @denisegrab.bsky.social legal-planet.org/2025/10/08/s...

Gov. Newsom should sign AB 1167 to keep costs down for utility ratepayers by ensuring they are not forced to subsidize utilities’ political lobbying and PR, our @denisegrab.bsky.social writes at @legal-planet.org. legal-planet.org/2025/10/08/s...

The so-called "compact" is a thin front for massive incursion into free speech and academic freedom. @dfarber1950.bsky.social legal-planet.org/2025/10/08/a...

The bad explosion at a Chevron refinery in El Segundo was a good reminder about the costs of oil & gas products. For months, the conversation in California has been dominated by breathless coverage of gas prices. Will this be a reset? 🧵 legal-planet.org/2025/10/07/s...

The bad explosion at the Chevron refinery in El Segundo is a good reminder that air pollution is present during the entire life cycle of oil and gas products. @evanlgeorge.bsky.social legal-planet.org/2025/10/07/s...

Happy "First Moanday." Since conservatives got a supermajority on the Supreme Court, it’s been on an anti-environmental tear. @dfarber1950.bsky.social legal-planet.org/2025/10/06/f...

The recent collapse of international plastics negotiations demands a new, non-UN framework. @uclalawemmett.bsky.social legal-planet.org/2025/10/03/g...

The Administration has a favored toolset for justifying its environmental rollbacks. We need to perfect the counterarguments. @dfarber1950.bsky.social legal-planet.org/2025/10/02/c...

The other shoe drops on NEPA. A New D.C. Circuit Case reads the Seven County decision for all it is worth. @dfarber1950.bsky.social legal-planet.org/2025/09/30/n...

We find ourselves in a place where “climate change” is on a list of banned words maintained by the U.S. Energy Department, along with adjectives like “green” and “clean,” and nouns like “emissions.” What's next? @evanlgeorge.bsky.social legal-planet.org/2025/10/01/w...

This webinar from @uclalawemmett.bsky.social explores the future of federal and state climate policy if the endangerment finding is repealed. legal-planet.org/2025/09/30/e...

An obscure drafting wrinkle in current California law is impeding local governments from springing into action after disasters. legal-planet.org/2025/09/29/o...

Project 2029? Here's a game plan for recreating agencies from the ground up. @dfarber1950.bsky.social legal-planet.org/2025/09/29/r...

LAST CALL: Join us today at 12:15 pm PT for a webinar on what's next for the endangerment finding as EPA looks to scrap the foundational finding. ucla.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Busy week from India to New York to California. Ten stories from Legal Planet this week. @evanlgeorge.bsky.social legal-planet.org/2025/09/23/n...

For just the second time in half a century, India’s power generation CO2 emissions have dropped. It shows the rest of the world is moving on from the US. @uclalawemmett.bsky.social legal-planet.org/2025/09/26/a...

California just set an infrastructure milestone – over 200,000 publicly accessible electric vehicle chargers – but how can it reach ambitious goals for EV drivers? @ucberkeleylaw.bsky.social legal-planet.org/2025/09/26/w...

If we want both environmental quality and new infrastructure, we need to do some hard thinking about what NEPA is trying to accomplish and how we can do that better. Otherwise, we risk "reforms" that throw out the baby with the bathwater. legal-planet.org/2025/09/25/r...

A new MOU between California and Brazil announced at New York Climate Week increases engagement and joint climate leadership ahead of COP30. legal-planet.org/2025/09/25/p...

What do we really want NEPA to do? And what’s the best way to do it? @dfarber1950.bsky.social legal-planet.org/2025/09/25/r...

EPA is going to extraordinary lengths to rush its revocation of the endangerment finding - a foundation for climate policy. Join us Monday 9/29 for a webinar about what happens next. ucla.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

I have a new blog post out on the Hyundai battery plant ICE raid earlier this month. A bureaucratic own goal by the Trump administration that also points toward a bipartisan path forward? legal-planet.org/2025/09/24/i...

The recent ICE raid on a Hyundai-LG plant in Georgia highlights a problem in our visa system — and our politics. Read @greenlawchina.bsky.social on why immigration law is now also environmental law. legal-planet.org/2025/09/24/i...

Inside the government, the war on science seems to be over, and ignorance has won. @dfarber1950.bsky.social on Trump's UN address. legal-planet.org/2025/09/23/i...