Environmental and Policy Focus
CourtHouse News - Oct 25
In back-to-back hearings before the 9th Circuit, farmers and environmental groups decried the deregulation of genetically modified sugar beets and alfalfa. Earthjustice attorney Peter Achitoff says the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) should not have granted commercial grower Monsanto permits to plant herbicide-resistant sugar beets that were set to expire in five months. A federal judge concluded that the permits represented a blatant violation of the National Environmental Policy Act.
New York Times - Oct 26
Experts debate whether a cap and trade system for nine Eastern states should tighten its emissions limits and link to California's program.
Bloomberg News - Oct 24
According to a Washington environmental 'think tank,' the failure by Congress to pass cap- and-trade legislation in 2010 had an ironic and unanticipated impact: It helped to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Resources for the Future argues that U.S. carbon-dioxide emissions are likely to be lower by 2020 because of regulatory measures and market changes than they would have been under the nationwide cap-and-trade program that was passed in the then Democratically-controlled House of Representatives and backed by the White House, but that thereafter died in the Senate.
Bloomberg News - Oct 24
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency should force oil and natural-gas producers to disclose the chemicals they release during drilling, hydraulic fracturing, compressing and storage, environmental groups said. The Environmental Integrity Project and 16 other groups in a petition today said the information is necessary to inform local residents about pollutants released into the air, water and land.
Western Farm Press - Oct 29
California Agriculture Budget cuts have dramatically reduced funding for the Williamson Act, California's conservation law that provides property tax relief for the owners of 15 million acres of rangeland and farms.
Co.Exist - Oct 26
Food entrepreneurs in California celebrated the recent passing of California’s Cottage Food Bill (AB1616) last month, which makes it easier for home chefs to sell their homemade goods legally. But experts say that the bill actually lags behind similar bills found in other states--33 others to be exact.
The Atlantic Wire - Oct 24
About 125 million people are at risk of getting sick from toxic pollution says the very first World's Worst Pollution Problems study—the first study to track the global health burden that industrial pollutants have on people.
CourtHouse News - Oct 25
In back-to-back hearings before the 9th Circuit, farmers and environmental groups decried the deregulation of genetically modified sugar beets and alfalfa. Earthjustice attorney Peter Achitoff says the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) should not have granted commercial grower Monsanto permits to plant herbicide-resistant sugar beets that were set to expire in five months. A federal judge concluded that the permits represented a blatant violation of the National Environmental Policy Act.
Consumer Affairs News and Alerts - Oct 29
Two of the nation’s leading paint companies have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charges that they misled consumers to believe that some of their paints are free of potentially harmful chemicals known as volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
David D. Cooke
Partner
Litigation | Environmental & Natural Resources | Land Use
San Francisco
(415) 273-7459
(415) 837-1516 (fax)
E-mail me
Emily L. Murray
Partner
Energy & Cleantech | Land Use | Litigation | Environmental & Natural Resources | Wireless Telecom Real Estate
Los Angeles
(213) 955-5584
(213) 620-8816 (fax)
E-mail me
Sandi L. Nichols
Partner
Litigation | Environmental & Natural Resources | Land Use | Eminent Domain & Valuation | Wireless Telecom Real Estate
San Francisco
(415) 273-7454
(415) 837-1516 (fax)
E-mail me
