We are at the start of a year of danger for environmental policy. 2015 saw many accomplishments in environmental law: the Administration issued the “waters of the United States” and Clean Power Plan regulations, a Supreme Court ruling in favor of EPA’s cross-state air pollution rule, and the Paris Agreement on climate change. Much of this progress is … Continue reading »
EPA
What do you know about EPA? Test your knowledge
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 »
Mercury Rising: The Court reverses EPA’s regulation
The Court has just now decided the Michigan case, involving EPA’s mercury regulation. As Ann Carlson explained in an earlier post, a lot was at stake in the case. The Court ruled 5-4 against EPA. This passage seems to be key to the Court’s reasoning: One would not say that it is even rational, never mind “appropriate,” … 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 »
The filibuster and the environment
In the short run, limiting the filibuster will strengthen the hands of environmental regulators. What about the long run effects? The filibuster arguably served a useful function when it allowed the minority to block action in extraordinary cases where its views were especially intense. It became no longer tolerable when it became a routine barrier … Continue reading »
The debt ceiling and the environment
It slipped under the radar screen due to all the furor over the impending government shutdown, but the NY Times ran an important article two weeks ago about the debt ceiling. The Republican plan is apparently to condition their agreement to raise the debt ceiling and save the country from default on a massive regulatory rollback. This … 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 »
The GOP platform and the environment
With some effort, I was able to find full text of the platform. Not surprisingly, the basic thrust is to relax limits on industry. The energy provisions correspond to Romney’s recent proclamations — more drilling in more places, less regulation of coal, etc. On the environment, the basic message is that current regulations are too … Continue reading »
Romney, Ryan, and the Devil’s budget: Will America keep its soul?
Coauthored with Glenn Smith America was born with a great soul, a moral view of Democracy in which citizens care about their fellow citizens and join together to take responsibility not just for themselves but for each other, for America as a union, a joint enterprise. The government’s job was to carry out that moral … Continue reading »
EPA unveils carbon standard for new power plants
On March 27 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released its anticipated rule limiting carbon dioxide emissions from new power plants. The proposed Carbon Pollution Standard for New Power Plants under Section 111 of the Clean Air Act purports to set national limits on the amount of carbon pollution new power plants can emit. Today we’re … 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 »
Accounting for the harm of coal
Much of the effort to rollback current EPA regulations focuses on coal-fired electrical power plants. An article in the August issues of the American Economic Review sheds light on the issues at stake. “Environmental Accounting for Pollution in the United States Economy” is an effort to assess the damages caused by various polluting activities. 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 »
What’s a life worth?
We commonly say that lives are invaluable, that saving a life, any life, is worth any effort, any expense. But we do not mean it. This note is prompted by a recent article on the consequences of raising the speed limits on American highways. The authors estimated that in the decade after 1995, states’ decisions … Continue reading »
EPA finalizes mountaintop removal guidance
After a three-and-a-half month delay for White House review, EPA has finalized its guidance for review of mountaintop removal mining permits in Appalachia. I needn’t have worried that the White House would roll EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson on this one. The final guidance maintains the strong stand EPA took last April, when it issued the … Continue reading »
A new look for fuel economy stickers
If you go shopping for a new car in model year 2013, you’ll see a new sort of fuel economy window sticker, like the one to the left below. This is a fascinating example of the challenges of making labels both easy to absorb and informative. (It’s definitely going in my environmental law casebook update.) It’s far … Continue reading »
EPA vetoes mountaintop removal mining permit
If EPA is afraid of the new Congress, you wouldn’t know it from the news today (Jan. 13). Assistant Administrator Peter Silva issued the Obama administration’s first veto of a Clean Water Act section 404 permit. This veto, which has been working its way through the cumbersome process for more than a year (see here, here, … Continue reading »