Month: July 2013

Place Based Subsidies are the Wrong Way to Adapt to Climate Change

The NY Times wrestles with whether tax payers should be paying for the  protection of coastal Queens, NY.  I agree with Mr. Goldstein; Eric A. Goldstein, a senior lawyer at the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental advocacy group, said he was sympathetic to Broad Channel and understood why residents have been lobbying hard for aid. …

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Sore Winners

The government has filed a cert. petition in an environmental case (EPA v. Friends of the Everglades) with a really interesting procedural wrinkle.  There’s more background about the case after the jump, but you don’t really need the details to understand the main issue. Here’s what you do need to know: 1.  After EPA issued …

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Bombs Bursting in Air: Environmental Regulation of Fireworks

It seems only fitting as we approach the Fourth of July holiday to turn our attention to the environmental impacts and regulation of fireworks.  As it turns out, our age-old patriotic tradition of exploding packages of toxic chemicals in the air is not without its environmental drawbacks.  Although much is still unknown about the environmental …

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Environmental Haiku for Summer

Just for amusement: Environmental haiku On a summer day. ____________ Across the hilltops, Slowly wheeling their white blades, Stand lines of windmills. ____________ A nap in the shade, Dreaming that new studies make Fox News fall silent. ____________ “Global climate change” – A long and abstract title For a world in pain. ____________ A beautiful …

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EPA Sends Climate Rules for New Power Plants to OMB

Though I was somewhat skeptical that the  Obama climate plan unfurled last week included much new, I’ve also argued previously that if the administration uses its extensive power under the Clean Air Act to regulate both new and existing power plants, the President will really have accomplished something on the climate change front.  It looks …

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The Bogus Trade-Off Between the Environment and Jobs

Paul Krugman has a NY Times column arguing, from a Keynesian point of view, that Obama’s climate change program won’t cost jobs.  One of my  posts a couple of years ago suggested the same idea: in a slack economy, regulatory requirements are a form of stimulus that can actually create jobs because industry has to spend …

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