Professor Frank Comments on Climate Change Litigation for Greenwire
Professor of Environmental Practice Richard Frank commented for Greenwire on legal challenges to California's AB 32, the 2008 state law designed to regulate and lower greenhouse gas emissions that have been linked to climate change. Numerous legal challenges are expected. Professor Frank noted that one critical issue will be whether the cap and trade system imposed by AB 32 constitutes a tax, which would require the approval of a supermajority of state lawmakers, or a fee, which would not. The tax question is "a very serious issue" that will be "heavily litigated," Frank said.
Frank, a 1974 graduate of King Hall, is a leader in the field of environmental law and the founding Director of the California Environmental Law and Policy Center at UC Davis School of Law.