Month: December 2012

D.C. Circuit Denies Rehearing in Endangerment Case

Six months ago, the D.C. Circuit upheld EPA’s finding that greenhouse gases endanger human health and welfare, triggering coverage under the Clean Air Act.  Today, the full court denied rehearing to the three-judge panel’s decision.  There were only two dissents, which obviously were hoping to set the stage for a cert. petition to the Supreme …

CONTINUE READING

Great Expectations: A Dozen Views of Obama’s Second Term

As we approach inauguration day next month, I thought it would be interesting to pull together the advice that people are giving him about his second term.  Here are some links if you’re interested in what people are hoping for (or in some cases, dreading). From the N.Y. Times, the views of Carol Browner (advocating …

CONTINUE READING

The Future of the Colorado

The Bureau of Reclamation has issued an important new report on the future of the Colorado River.  The Colorado supplies drinking water to 40 million people and irrigation water to nearly 5.5 million acres of land. The report projects decreases in supply over the next fifty years, including a 9% decrease in average flow and a …

CONTINUE READING

Attitudes Toward Climate Change, Environmental Science, and Clean Energy

A new AP poll reports a sharp increase in the number of people who believe that climate change is happening and will be a problem for the United States.  The biggest change was among the significant group of people who say they don’t trust scientists. Here’s the summary from AP: 4 out of every 5 …

CONTINUE READING

Natural Gas Fracking: Don’t Worry, Be Happy!

When George Washington Law School’s Richard Pierce talks about energy, I listen.  And a few days ago he posted a short piece with the provocative title, “Natural Gas Fracking Addresses All Of Our Major Problems.”  (emphasis in original!).  If you want to read the nutshell case for why fracking is good, then this is your …

CONTINUE READING

Fifth Circuit reverses Gulf of Mexico moratorium contempt ruling

You might remember that after the Deepwater Horizon blowout the Department of Interior issued a six-month moratorium on new deepwater exploratory drilling. An industry consortium challenged the moratorium, winning a preliminary injunction against its enforcement from District Judge Martin Feldman. (I criticized that decision here.) Interior withdrew that first moratorium but subsequently issued a second, …

CONTINUE READING

Lastest IPCC assessment of future climate changes leaked in draft form

We knew the coming Fifth Assessment Report of the IPCC, which I discussed briefly here, would make waves–just not this soon.  The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change produces these assessments every five to seven years.  They are the most rigorous and prominent summaries of the science of climate change, crafted by leading scientists from many nations and used …

CONTINUE READING

A new twist in the Christmas tree debate — GloTrees!

(Warning — tongue firmly in cheek.) Megan and Dan have written on how an environmentally-minded winter holiday enthusiast should choose between a real and an artificial Christmas tree. The comparison already isn’t easy, but it could get even more complicated. What if the “natural” tree were genetically engineered to glow in the dark? Two UK …

CONTINUE READING

Jane Lubchenco to leave NOAA

Cross-posted at CPRBlog. NOAA administrator Jane Lubchenco has announced that she will leave her post at the end of February. Her letter to NOAA employees, reprinted in the Washington Post, cites the difficulty of maintaining a bi-coastal family life. Dr. Lubchenco, a distinguished marine biologist, has put in four years at the helm of NOAA, …

CONTINUE READING

The Current U.S. Energy Pathway is Paved with Coal, Oil and Natural Gas

How well are we doing, in our efforts to strip fossil fuels from our energy mix? If you want to believe the most recent estimates from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the answer is: not so well. As EIA prepares its 2013 report on the impact of various proposed policy changes, it asks itself: …

CONTINUE READING

TRENDING