Last December 9 was the height of coincidences.  Both the United States Supreme Court and the New Jersey Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the same day in beach replenishment cases.  The fortuity did not continue.  Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida  was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in June.  It took the New Jersey Supreme Court over three months longer to decide City of Long Branch v. Liu, where the opinion came down just this past Tuesday.  Nevertheless, both decisions affirmed that beachfront ownership law would be determined based on common...

One of the things that is so intriguing about climate change is the development of things that no one is anticipating. More sophisticated thinkers call this the "law of unexpected consequences." I simply defer to Heraclitus: "expect the unexpected." So here. Today's Wall Street Journal has an intriguing article on the asymptotic rise of sinkhole claims against insurance companies. Florida's insurer of last resort, Citizens Property Insurance Corp., has seen sinkhole claim rates double since last year. Insurance industry spokesmen and some legislators blame a rapid increase in the number of pu...

As the season of elections unfolds, I am reminded that "all politics is local." I think the same might be said for weather and we have had plenty of that this year. Some might say, "well, no more than anywhere else." But I would disagree, and the Baltimore Sun's September 8 front page story by Frank D. Roylance supports me. . Maryland this year has tied or set records for snowiest winter, snowiest February, hottest summer, the most 90 degree days, and the most 100 degree days. Couple that with drought conditions that have ruined the corn crop, brought summer vegetables in too early, threatens...

A panel of Connecticut’s energy, environmental, transportation and economic development leaders reached consensus this week on a road map for supporting the next generation of plug in electric vehicles. The initiatives identified in the report, state officials said, promise to create incentives for electric car consumers and send clear signals to the automobile industry and trade allies that Connecticut should be high on the deployment list for the next generation of clean cars.  Officials also promised that the efforts would help the state to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and pr...