Year: 2012
Party Differences on Energy and Environment: A Side-by-Side Comparison
After I posted a description of the Republican platform, a reader suggested that a side-by-side comparison would be helpful when the Democratic Platform came out. Here it is, presented as objectively as I could. Subject Democratic Platform Republican Platform Regulatory reform Give president power to reorganize agencies. Congressional approval required for all major rules. …
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CONTINUE READINGA Capitol Hill Briefing on Electric Vehicle Policies, Monday, September 10th (Webcast Available)
Legal Planeteers in the Washington DC area are invited to join the environmental law centers at Berkeley and UCLA Schools of Law as we present a lunchtime, Capitol Hill discussion on policies necessary for long-term, mass adoption of electric vehicle technologies. This free event is sponsored by Congressman Henry Waxman’s office and will also be …
CONTINUE READINGHow to Protect the Environment: Views from the Right
Duke will be holding a very timely event on conservative visions of environmental law. Everyone knows what forms of environmental protection conservatives oppose, but conservative alternatives are less widely known. This is a welcome opportunity to hear ideas about an affirmative conservative vision. (Details and registration information here.)
CONTINUE READINGSome Economics of the Green Partisan Divide
I would like to offer a couple of thoughts about Dan’s post today. To keep this entry short and sweet, I will invoke some stereotypes. In my economic model, there are two types of people; “Laura the Liberal” and the other is “Chuck the Conservative”. I want to sketch their two lifestyles …
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CONTINUE READINGLike a Bridge Over Troubled Water: Crossing the Partisan Divide on Environmental Issues
A national holiday is a good occasion for thinking about national unity. Reading the GOP platform, you might well conclude that there is absolutely zero hope for bipartisanship on environmental issue. The platform angrily accuses the Obama Administration for pursuing environmental regulation at all costs, heedless of huge economic burdens. The platform also leaves no …
CONTINUE READINGThe Fairness of Using the Gas Tax to Support Transit
A lot of people are out driving on this Labor Day weekend, which means buying gas and paying the gas tax that’s included in the price. As it happens, last week, the GOP adopted a platform condemning the use of the highway fund to support transit. The platform seems to reflect conservative fairness concerns, like …
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CONTINUE READINGPosner versus Scalia Smackdown!
Environmental law revolves around statutes, so the topic of statutory interpretation is crucial for lawyers in the field. For the past thirty years, Justice Scalia has promoted an approach called textualism, which purports to provide an objective method of interpreting laws. This approach often, though not always, leads to narrower reader of statutes than broader …
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CONTINUE READINGWhat’s better than Yosemite? (Hint: add lawyers)
Say what you want about environmental lawyers: We know how to pick a conference locale. Each fall, the Environmental Law Section of the California state bar holds its annual conference just outside the gates of Yosemite National Park. Specialists in environmental, land use, and natural resources law from all segments of the bar gather to talk regulation …
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CONTINUE READINGEconomists for AB32
A few days ago I joined a set of well known academic economists and signed this letter to Governor Brown. The NRDC has a nice post about the issues available here. Everyone who knows me, knows that I’m a proud University of Chicago Ph.D. economist and that my support for free markets and individual freedom …
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CONTINUE READINGThe GOP Platform & 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 …
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