Daniel A. Farber

Berkeley

Editor at Legal Planet

Law professor and secret agent. Author of a forthcoming book on presidential power. https://t.co/9v5cLtjLdA….

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Articles

EPA Steps Through the Looking Glass

3 days ago | legal-planet.org | Daniel A. Farber

You can’t accuse EPA of hiding the ball. It has announced its new mission: promoting fossil fuels. According to Trump’s EPA, the greatest day in the agency’s history was not, as you might think, a day when it did something to protect the environment. Instead, according to Trump’s EPA, the agency’s finest moment will be eliminating protections against air and water pollution.
Brazil Steps Ahead of the U.S. on Climate Policy

1 week ago | legal-planet.org | Daniel A. Farber

A new emissions trading system is a major step for Brazilian climate policy. During the Obama Administration, an effort to create a carbon trading system passed the House but petered out in the Senate. Obama tried to do something similar with the Clean Power Plan, which the Supreme Court rejected. Now Brazil has gone ahead where the U.S. federal government has failed. The country has now started to implement an important law passed in December.
Willful Ignorance as Government Policy

1 week ago | legal-planet.org | Daniel A. Farber

The Trump Administration is systematically shutting down sources of vital information. The Trump Administration is closing 25 scientific centers that monitor water levels across the U.S., which is vital information during floods and droughts. The centers also monitor aquifer levels and underground plumes of pollution. The government has canceled the leases for the centers, which will begin closing soon.
State Climate Programs Under Trump – Little Drama, Steady Progress - Legal Planet

3 weeks ago | legal-planet.org | Daniel A. Farber

Ignoring Trump, state have continued work on achieving their climate targets. It’s a tribute to the significance of state climate policies that Trump devoted an entire executive order to excoriating them as “fundamentally irreconcilable” with his own, fossil-fuel promoting, energy policy. Yet, despite all the drama in D.C., state governments have continued to make quiet progress in their efforts to expand clean energy and phase out fossil fuels.
Precedent, the Trump Administration, and Endangered Species

3 weeks ago | legal-planet.org | Daniel A. Farber

A new Trump Administration initiative misinterprets the overruling of Chevron The Trump Administration is about to embark on overruling a key regulation protecting endangered species. That regulation, which the Supreme Court upheld in the Sweet Home case (1995), protects members of endangered species from being killed or injured indirectly via destruction of their habitat.
Is Trump Good for the Oil Industry?

4 weeks ago | legal-planet.org | Daniel A. Farber

Not particularly, it would appear. If there’s an effect, it’s not big enough to hit the eyes. Given that Trump adores oil and views it as a key source of national wealth, you’d think his election would be a boon for the oil industry. If he is aiding the industry, that doesn’t stand out in looking at the stock market. Oil stocks went up and the day after he was elected, and again after he was sworn in. That suggests some market sentiment in his favor.
Wildfire Liability in California: A Primer - Legal Planet

1 month ago | legal-planet.org | Daniel A. Farber

California has a unique approach to lawsuits against utilities for causing fires. The fires in L.A. have put litigation over wildfires on the front page and spotlighted California’s unique approach. But such litigation isn’t new. In 2019, Pacific Gas & Electric filed for bankruptcy because of billions of dollars of potential liability from fires the previous summer. The firm was faced with 750 lawsuits, ultimately entering a $13.5 billion settlement.
Trump’s Discordant Coal Quartet

1 month ago | legal-planet.org | Daniel A. Farber

Yesterday’s four executive orders were long on talk and short on action. Yesterday, flanked by a few coal miners in hard hats, Trump signed four executive orders to restore their industry to its past glory. Given that coal is now the most expensive way to generate power other than nuclear, that’s going to be a heavy lift. Like many of Trump’s orders, these four are full of threats and bluster but will have little immediate effect.
168 Years of Climate Science

1 month ago | legal-planet.org | Daniel A. Farber

The scientific evidence for climate change traces back before the Civil War. Climate change is no fad or Johnny-come-lately in science. Rather, our knowledge has grown over 168 years, since an American scientist first discovered the heat-trapping properties of carbon dioxide. Over time, it has become more and more certain that humans are causing climate change and that continuing down that road poses great risks.
What if DOGE Came for the NFL?

1 month ago | legal-planet.org | Daniel A. Farber

This is what it looks likes like when DOGE takes on a new task. We know what DOGE is doing to the government. But why stop there? What if they got loose on another part of U.S. society, professional sports? Here’s a picture of what that could look like. June 2026June 30. New Trump Order: DOGE to Fix Football (NY Times)Trump on Truth Social:“Too long have Woke elites Subverted football. the greatest Sport ever Seen. BLOAT and WASTE are EVERYWHERE.