Overlawyered » environment

“I don’t understand why more winemakers aren’t libertarians”

Walter Olson — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 04:15:19 +0000

Land use regulations “seem to be the bane of their existence.” Shouldn’t they perhaps draw a wider lesson? [Prof. Bainbridge]

P.S. “Also their bane includes the estate tax and attempts in DC to repeal LIFO accounting” [@sggunase]

Tags: agriculture and farming, alcohol, environment

“I don’t understand why more winemakers aren’t libertarians” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Maryland braces for “rain tax”

Walter Olson — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 04:17:47 +0000

Back to the gravel walk? A new environmental program pressures populous Maryland counties to levy assessments on property owners based on their square footage of impervious surfaces such as roofs, patios or driveways that prevent rainwater from sinking into the soil [Blair Lee, Gazette; Maryland Reporter; Frederick News-Post; Anne Arundel County]

P.S. While some of the Maryland commentary has treated the idea as new and experimental, thanks to commenters for pointing out that it’s already a familiar part of the scene elsewhere.

Tags: environment, Maryland, real estate, taxes

Maryland braces for “rain tax” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Cleaning supplies in the classroom? Your papers, please

Walter Olson — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 04:17:25 +0000

One of Lenore Skenazy’s readers, a kindergarten teacher in Wisconsin, says the list of things not allowed in the classroom without a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) at her school includes dish soap and baby wipes [Free-Range Kids; MSDS for dish soap from lakeland.edu and for baby wipes from schoolhealth.com]

Tags: environment, schools

Cleaning supplies in the classroom? Your papers, please is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Environment roundup

Walter Olson — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 04:05:20 +0000

Doughnut oil and the environment: NYT misses a story of unintended consequences [Ira Stoll, SmarterTimes]
N.C.: “Guy Who Runs Wilderness Camp Told to Install Sprinklers, Use County Approved Lumber” [Katherine Mangu-Ward]
“With Proposed Policy Change, EPA Fully Embraces Role of ‘Environmental Justice’ Advocate” [Cory Andrews, WLF]
“While the taxes… are irritating, what has really killed my interest in expanding in California is the regulatory burden.” [Coyote on SLOLeaks blog; another California Coastal Commission horror story]
Natural crop breeding = safe, biotech-assisted breeding = unsafe? Tale of the toxic potato teaches otherwise [Maggie Koerth-Baker, BoingBoing] (broken link fixed now)
Peak Oil? Welcome instead to Trough Oil, as titanic new fossil fuel supplies begin coming online [Andrew Sullivan]
Deregulation of accessory dwellings is a reform both free-marketeers and New Urbanists in search of density can get behind [David Alpert, Greater Greater Washington]

Tags: California, environment, Environmental Protection Agency, North Carolina, oil industry, real estate, restaurants

Environment roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

OMG NYT OKs GMOs

Walter Olson — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 10:39:59 +0000

“[T]here is no reliable evidence that genetically modified foods now on the market pose any risk to consumers,” says an editorial in, of all places, the New York Times. ["Why Label Genetically Engineered Food?"]

And while on the subject of publications outperforming expectations, Slate features a sober look at “cancer clusters,” with George Johnson reviewing a new book on the Toms River, N.J. episode.

Tags: environment, food safety, New Jersey

OMG NYT OKs GMOs is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Maryland roundup

Walter Olson — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 04:06:27 +0000

Legislature won’t pass dram shop liability, lawyers ask Maryland high court to do so instead [Frederick News-Post]
In St. Mary’s County, new visitor rules for elementary schools ban hugging or giving homemade food to any but own kid [Southern Maryland News]
Progress: Maryland Senate votes to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana [NBC Washington]
If it’ll take $1 million for Somerset County (pop. 26,000) to cut stormwater nitrogen runoff by 145 pounds, how’s it going to manage to cut 37,000 pounds? [AP]
“Fracking Moratorium Falls One Vote Short of Passing Key Senate Committee” [Chestertown Spy] “Bill was more about preventing fracking than studying it.” [@ToddEberly]
Department of Truly Dreadful Ideas: Del. Ana Sol Gutierrez (D-Montgomery) continues to push bill to establish state-owned bank [Baltimore Business Journal]
Website attacking Montgomery County’s Valerie Ervin has some union fingerprints [WaPo] Sen. Brinkley blasts union bill to make all Md. teachers pay agency fees [Maryland Reporter]
Video interview with Hudson attorney George Ritchie on Waterkeeper v. Hudson Farm case [Center Maryland, earlier]
Added: “Md. Senate votes to outlaw smoking in cars with young children as passengers” [WaPo just now]

Tags: banks, child protection, dramshop statutes, environment, labor unions, Maryland, smoking bans

Maryland roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

CEQA and California’s “reputation as a lousy place to do business”

Walter Olson — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 04:14:21 +0000

A highly placed Democrat in Sacramento is acknowledging the problems with the state’s environmental-review law, which empowers complainants to stop, slow down or drive up the cost of new development projects. Among those who’ve learned to turn CEQA to their own uses: NIMBY-minded neighbors, business competitors seeking to hobble rivals, and unions looking for a shakedown tool. [Los Angeles Times]

Tags: California, environment, land use and zoning

CEQA and California’s “reputation as a lousy place to do business” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Environment roundup

Walter Olson — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 11:06:11 +0000

Judge Kozinski, writing for Ninth Circuit panel, declares Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s harassment of whaling ships to fall under piracy law as covered by international treaty [Trial Insider, Julian Ku, Kevin Jon Heller, Eugene Kontorovich and more and yet more, SSCS's black skull flag via Wikipedia]
California Assemblyman Mike Gatto [D-Silver Lake] introduces AB 227, which would reform notorious Prop 65 by giving business 14 days to fix lack of warning before entitling lawyer to bounty [his blog, Dem caucus, Burbank Leader]
Unintended, unsanitary consequences of plastic bag bans (Ramesh Ponnuru/ Bloomberg) And theft too? [Seattle Times]
Writer who joined the circus for several days reports on Ringling Bros. elephant controversy: [Bill McMorris/Washington Free Beacon (quotes me), earlier]
Study finds new CAFE fuel economy standards far less efficient than taxes in promoting conservation [Alex Tabarrok]
Now Mark Bittman is being alarmist about cosmetics [ACSH, background]
Overcriminalization looms large for Gulf Coast outdoor businesses, says TPPF’s Vikrant Reddy [FoxNews]

Tags: Alex Kozinski, animal rights, CAFE, cosmetics, environment, Prop 65

Environment roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Next, Col. Sanders’ grandkids bankroll PETA

Walter Olson — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 14:37:07 +0000

Report: Rockefeller family foundations have given millions to anti-fossil-fuel activist Bill McKibben [Vivian Krause, Financial Post (Canada)]

Tags: charitable trusts, environment, oil industry

Next, Col. Sanders’ grandkids bankroll PETA is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Indiana: “Couple Faces Jail Time For Nursing Deer Back To Health”

Walter Olson — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 12:09:20 +0000

“The Indianapolis Star reports that the Indiana Department of Natural Resources wants to prosecute Jeff and Jennifer Counceller for taking care of an injured deer that showed up on their doorstep.” [CBS Cleveland via Amy Alkon, Dan Mitchell] A while back I wrote about the case in which a Virginia family got in trouble with the feds after their 11-year-old rescued a baby woodpecker in their back yard and cared for it for a day or two before releasing it.

Tags: animals, environment

Indiana: “Couple Faces Jail Time For Nursing Deer Back To Health” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system