San Franciscans will soon be fined unless they dispose of trash and recycle precisely according to the scheme below:
San Francisco’s idea has some merit — but we recommend the following improvements to the scheme:
Day: June 11, 2009
Green lawsuit in California seen as warm-up for future climate litigation
Carbon Control News reports that two “environmental justice” groups (Communities for a Better Environment and California Communities Against Toxics) sued the state of California on June 10 alleging the state’s climate change program violates its 2006 global warming law. [Click here for the summary].
Carbon Control News rightly pointed out that the lawsuit
… could foreshadow similar legal challenges facing a federal GHG cap-and-trade program, because the California groups, who question the effectiveness of emissions trading, are also opposed to the Waxman-Markey climate change legislation.
The lesson here — especially for USCAP’s business members — is that while businesses may feel like they can deal with seemingly “mainstream” green groups (like USCAP’s Environmental Defense Fund and Natural Resources Defense Council) in crafting a survivable climate bill, in the end the more extreme green groups will come along and try to scuttle the deal in favor of more extreme regulation.