Environmental Law
Envt'l Law News Spring 2014, Vol. 23, No. 1
Content
- 2013-2014 Environmental Law Section Executive Committee
- California's "Magic" Number: Nine Goals for 2020 and Where We May Go From There
- Introduction: Is the Problem of Ocean Plastic Pollution Insoluble?
- As Jurisdictions Like California Sort Out Regulation of Hydraulic Fracturing, Nimby Approaches Pop Up in Other Jurisdictions
- California Supreme Court Decision Expands Public's Right to Access Government-Held Digitally-Formatted Data
- Big Things Come In Small Packages: Ninth Circuit Issues Nation's First Decision on Nanotechnology
- Alternatives to Litigation to Address Climate Change
- Editor's Note...
- Environmental Law News Publications Committee
- Articles from the 2013 Environmental Law Conference at Yosemite Panel "Dire Gyre: Is the Problem of Ocean Plastic Pollution Insoluble?
- Advancing Producer Responsibility To Control Land-based Sources of Marine Plastic Pollution
- The Problem of Plastic Debris
- Ocean Plastic
- The 2013 Environmental Legislative Recap: a Break in the Perpetual Gridlock
- Table of Contents
California’s "Magic" Number: Nine Goals for 2020 and Where We May Go From There
by Ryan Waterman* and Parissa Ebrahimzadeh**
INTRODUCTION
Environmental lawyers are familiar with aspirational, technology-forcing goals set into law. The federal Clean Water Act amendments of 1972 called for the elimination of the "discharge of pollutants into the navigable waters" by 1985, and the federal Clean Air Act amendments of 1970 sought to set and achieve national ambient air quality standards by 1975.1 While neither law achieved its ambitious goals, they set our nation firmly on a course toward cleaner water and air.
California is no stranger to legislating aspirational goals tied to future dates. Most recently, it seems to have found some magic in the year 2020, which is the state’s target for achieving an unusually large number of cutting-edge, nation-leading goals, ranging from significant reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and trash diversion from landfills, to urban water use reductions and the use of e-books in college classrooms.