Much of what most people think they know about the Environmental Protection Agency is wrong. This test involves a few basics about the EPA. See how much you know: 1. Which President established the EPA? A. Kennedy, B. Johnson, C. Nixon, D. Clinton 2. When is cost a factor in issuing EPA regulations? A. … Continue reading »
Environmental Protection Agency
Carbon vouchers: A small-government approach to climate action
What I’m going to sketch here isn’t a zero government approach. But the government’s role is very limited: federal agencies don’t do any enforcement and the government doesn’t touch any revenue from the scheme. So this approach deals with the concern that a carbon tax or something similar would either expand EPA’s ability to abuse … Continue reading »
Justice Thomas declares war on rulemaking
It didn’t get much attention, but Justice Thomas’s dissent two weeks ago in the Amtrak case was extraordinarily radical, even for him. The case involved a relatively obscure issue about the legal status of Amtrak. Justice Thomas used the occasion for a frontal attack on administrative law, including most of environmental law. The heart of … Continue reading »
Happy endings and promising starts on the environment
In most ways, 2014 was a good year for environmental protection, with progress on several fronts. True, there are warning signs for 2015 — primarily the Republican sweep of the mid-terms and the Supreme Court’s puzzling decision to review toxics regulations for coal-fired power plants. And of course, there were losses as well as victories, … Continue reading »
The ‘Yoga Theorem’ and the EPA’s new carbon-emissions policy
With the historical release of the Environmental Protection Agency’s new carbon emissions policy, I took an extra day to comb through and digest the news. I have organized my intermediate microeconomics class around something called the “Yoga Theorem.” This almost universal truth states that the less flexible you are, the more you will suffer. It holds … Continue reading »
Obamacare’s lessons for the future of EPA’s CO2 rule
There has (rightly) been a lot of attention paid to the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed rule controlling greenhouse gas emissions from power plants pursuant to Clean Air Act, Section 111(d). All of that analysis — how effective the rule will be, how it will be implemented, the prospects for successful legal challenges to the rule … Continue reading »
Lightbulb wars: the saga continues
Republicans have won a largely symbolic victory for an obsolete technology. Among the sleeper provisions of the new budget deal is a ban on enforcing federal lightbulb standards. This is a great example of symbolic politics — it makes Tea Party Republicans happy, has limited practical effect, and makes little policy sense. Or to put it … Continue reading »
The quiet failure of climate denial in 2013
The latest IPCC report proves that scientists are unwavering in their view that human carbon emissions are causing dangerous climate change. In the scientific world, climate denial has no traction. It isn’t gaining traction in the judicial or congressional worlds either. First, the judiciary. A three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit, headed by a conservative … Continue reading »
Europe is banning bee-harmful pesticides; the US should take a lead.
Like the European Union – which today (Dec. 1) boldly begins a two-year ban on selected pesticides thought to be harmful to honeybees and other pollinators – the United States should help protect pollinators by banning these pesticides. But the United States should do far more, and become a world leader in championing sustainable alternatives … Continue reading »
Gina McCarthy to be nominated as EPA head
As predicted by Cara Horowitz recently, it’s being widely reported (for example here) this morning (March 4) that Gina McCarthy, currently EPA’s Assistant Administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation, is Obama’s pick to succeed Lisa Jackson as EPA Administrator. Cara sees this appointment as a good thing for EPA’s climate policy efforts and … Continue reading »
Why critics should stop bashing EPA (and what they should talk about instead)
Bashing EPA is apparently a good political tactic, at least if you’re in a red state, but it’s also a smokescreen — what is presented as an attack on the agency is actually an attack on the mission assigned by Congress. In terms of carrying out the mission, EPA is no different than the Defense … Continue reading »
Ron Paul: The most anti-environmental candidate ever
In a field in which all the candidates are weak in terms of protecting the environment, Ron Paul is unquestionably the worst. Here is his position (taken directly from his website): Eliminate the ineffective EPA. Polluters should answer directly to property owners in court for the damages they create – not to Washington. OK, what’s … Continue reading »
Gingrich and the environment
Given Newt Gingrich’s current spurt in the polls, it’s worth taking a bit of a closer look at his environmental views. He favors dismantling EPA, which should make him popular with the tea party. But apparently he has problems in that quarter: The reaction from some conservative commentators was swift and harsh. “Intellectually incoherent,” said … Continue reading »
No (or at least little) net loss of jobs from regulation
We keep hearing the phrase “job-killing regulations” from the Republican side of the aisle, with environmental regulations generally at the top of their lists. Yet there has never been much evidence for the claim that government regulation is systematically bad for employment or the economy. To the contrary, scholars, this blog, think tanks (notably the … Continue reading »
The ozone rule: What Sunstein didn’t say
On September 2, Cass Sunstein, administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs,” wrote a letter to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson about the ozone rule, “requesting” that EPA withdraw the regulation. Beyond the fact that it was written at all, the letter is remarkable for its significant silences: Although the letter notes … Continue reading »