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Daniel Farber

Sho Sato Professor of Law

Daniel A. Farber is the Sho Sato Professor of Law and Director of the California Center for Law, Energy and the Environment at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law.

Daniel Farber | February 16, 2016

Justice Scalia and Environmental Law

Scalia’s decisions were almost unremittingly anti-environmental. Over the past three decades, Justice Scalia did much to shape environmental law, nearly always in a conservative direction.  Because of the importance of his rulings, environmental lawyers and scholars are all familiar with his work.  But for the benefit of others, I thought it might be helpful to […]

Daniel Farber | January 28, 2016

Legacy Goods and the Environment

The value of some goods like wilderness today depends on their futures. Normally, economists imagine, equal experiences become less valuable as they recede further into the future.  But some types of goods don’t have that kind of relationship with future experiences.  They can become more valuable as they extend farther into to the future. Take […]

Daniel Farber | January 4, 2016

Key Environmental Developments Ahead in 2016

Here are seven of the most important developments affecting the environment. 2015 was a big year for agency regulations and international negotiations. In 2016, the main focal points will be the political process and the courts. Here are seven major things to watch for.  The Presidential Election. The election will have huge consequences for the environment. A Republican […]

Daniel Farber | December 15, 2015

Does the Paris Agreement Open the Door to Geoengineering?

If we’re serious about keeping warming “well below” 2 degrees C, geoengineering may be necessary. The Paris agreement establishes an aspirational goal of holding climate change to 1.5 degrees C, with a firmer goal of holding the global temperature decrease “well below” 2 degrees C. As a practical matter, the 1.5 degrees C goal almost […]

Daniel Farber | November 4, 2015

Law Schools Doing Good

How Law Schools Serve the Public Most people probably think of law schools, when they think of them at all, as places that train future lawyers.  That’s true, and it’s important, but law schools do a lot more.  Faculty scholarship makes a difference — law review articles laid the foundation for many of the ideas now guiding […]

Daniel Farber | October 22, 2015

Addressing Externalities: A Modest Proposal

How to make health and safety a personal priority for industry officials. According to economists, firms have little reason to take into account the cost of externalities — that is to say, the harms their activities may impose on others. The traditional solutions are damage remedies or taxes to transfer the financial cost to the […]

Daniel Farber | September 8, 2015

Guess Who Benefits from Regulating Power Plants

The answer will surprise you. What parts of the country benefit most from the series of new EPA rules addressing pollution from coal-fired power plants?  The answer is not what you think. EPA does a thorough cost-benefit analysis of its regulations but the costs and benefits are aggregated at the national level. In a new paper, David Spence and David […]

Daniel Farber | June 9, 2015

Clean Air versus States Rights

A sleeper decision by the D.C. Circuit upholds federal air pollution authority. The D.C. Circuit’s decision last week in Mississippi Commission on Environmental Quality v. EPA didn’t get a lot of attention, despite having a very significant constitutional ruling.  Since the constitutional discussion doesn’t start until about page seventy, after many pages of scintillating discussion of matters like […]

Daniel Farber | April 7, 2015

The Case Against Sulking

States will only lose out if they refuse to cooperate with the Clean Power Plan. Mitch McConnell has urged states to refuse to submit plans if the Clean Power Plan is upheld by the Court.  He has been accused of inciting lawless behavior on the part of state governments.  Let me come to his defense on this.  (How often […]