The Climate Bill inside the Infrastructure Bill
The US takes a major step forward on the path to carbon neutrality.
Late Friday, the House passed Biden’s infrastructure bill. As the Washington Post aptly observed, the bill is the biggest climate legislation to ever move through Congress. It also attracted key support from some Republicans, which was essential to passing it in both houses of Congress. Biden is pushing for an even bigger companion bill, but the infrastructure bill is a huge victory in its own right. One major area of spending is transportation. Some of that goes fo...
CONTINUE READINGIs China Doing Enough on Climate Change? COP26 Version
Chinese leaders have an opportunity to increase ambition and clarify the country's climate plans
As COP26 kicks off in Glasgow, Scotland this week, the world is confronted with a basic reality. Current national climate pledges fall well-short of the Paris Agreement goal to keep global average temperature increase this century well below 2°C and to pursue efforts to limit temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. The UN’s 2021 Emissions Gap Report finds that under current pledges temperatures will still rise by 2.7°C by the end of the century. T...
CONTINUE READINGMajor Questions About the Major Questions Doctrine
You may not have heard of this doctrine but it’s a big threat to innovative regulations.
Unless you’re deeply immersed in administrative law, you may not have heard of the major questions doctrine. It’s a legal theory that conservative judges have used with increasing rigor to block important regulatory initiatives. The doctrine places special obstacles on agency regulations of issues of “major economic and political significance.” In its initial outing, the conservative majority said that FDA couldn’t regulate tobacco without a clear congress...
CONTINUE READINGA Bad Week for Biden, and for Climate Action
First House progressives, and next conservative Justices, poked a stick in the spokes.
President Biden hoped to go to the international climate summit in Glasgow with momentum behind him. He wanted to reestablish US credibility with concrete progress on climate change. Instead, the ability of the US to take action on climate change is shrouded in doubt. Biden suffered an embarrassing defeat at the hands of members of his own party in the House, while the Supreme Court gave a menacing signal that it would block any effort at bold climate action by EPA. ...
CONTINUE READINGWhat do U.S. states do at a COP, anyway?
Newsom's out, but California and other states continue with robust delegations headed to Scotland
You've likely heard that the big annual United Nations climate conference is about to get underway in Glasgow, with nations around the world gathering together to try to advance international climate cooperation. But it's not just national representatives who will attend; many subnational jurisdictions, including California and other U.S. states, also send significant delegations. Although Gov. Newsom just abruptly announced that he's cancelled his travel plans...
CONTINUE READINGThe Monument to the Unknown Bureaucrat
Yes, there actually is one. It’s in Reykjavík. And here’s why it’s worth pondering.
Working away in anonymity, a cadre of civil servants keeps the machinery of government working. There’s actually a monument in Reykjavík, Iceland to these public servants. It shows someone in a business suit carrying a briefcase — or more specifically, the lower half of the person, with the upper half replaced by a block of basalt. According to a local website, “the block of rock is a perfect metaphor for how everyday life crushes down on us, while at the same t...
CONTINUE READINGShow Time: Stark message from the International Energy Agency
As the 26th Climate Conference (COP26) approaches, there is lots of discussion of the recent IPCC report. There will be a flood of other climate reports landing over the next couple of weeks, from international agencies, environmental groups, industry associations, and many others, all timed for maximum attention at the COP. But for a concrete understanding of the present situation, the most important analysis is in a report that appeared back in May. The Internationa...
CONTINUE READINGCost-Benefit Analysis: FAQs
Cost-benefit analysis has been a key part of the regulatory process since 1980. Here’s how it works.
Cost-benefit analysis is required for all major regulations. It’s also highly controversial, as well as being a mysterious procedure unless you’re an economist. These FAQs will tell you what you need to know about how cost-benefit analysis (CBA) fits into the regulatory process, how it works, and why it’s controversial. Q: Let’s start with a basic question. Exactly what is cost-benefit analysis? A: The term cost-benefit analysis is sometimes used to m...
CONTINUE READINGWhat power does the state have over land-use regulation in California?
State court concludes that state does have the authority to intervene in local regulation of land-use
A big court ruling in California land-use law happened last month – and it has really large implications for the state’s efforts to address California’s housing crisis. The lawsuit is a challenge by a pro-housing advocacy group (California Renters Legal Advocacy and Education Fund (CARLA)) to a decision by the City of San Mateo to reject a multi-family housing project. CARLA relied on the state’s Housing Accountability Act (HAA), which limits the ability of a ...
CONTINUE READINGWhy Local Governments Underproduce Housing
Local control over land-use regulation means local governments focus more on the harms than the benefits of housing
As governments in California and across the United States wrestle with how to address soaring housing costs, a significant flashpoint has been the issue of local control. Most land-use regulation in the United States is done by local governments: cities, counties, towns, villages. In California, much of the legislation intended to increase housing production has sought to strip away or limit local control over land-use regulation. Those legislative efforts have in ...
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