Region: National
Vox Populi and the Environment
Is Trump’s attack on environmental law riding a groundswell of public opinion? Apparently not.
Trump is pushing hard to rollback Obama’s climate change regulations, expand the use of fossil fuels, and discourage renewables. Where does the public stand on all this? The answer is that the public is mostly on the other side, but more needs to be done to heighten public awareness. A recent survey conducted jointly by …
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CONTINUE READINGTrump’s Radical Anti-Environmentalism
Trump’s target isn’t just Obama. His rejection of environmental protection goes much deeper.
We often hear about the Trump Administrations’s plans to “roll back Obama’s regulations.” But the Administration’s goals go much deeper. Hyperbole is always a risk when discussing opposing policy views, but to call this Administration a profound threat to environmental regulation is only to echo their own words. When he announced the executive order directing EPA to …
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CONTINUE READINGWhy Trump’s Faux Withdrawal and Reality TV Announcement May Backfire
Opponents are Galvanized
President Donald Trump’s announcement that he will withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement may have dramatic consequences for his administration – but not in the way he might imagine. His announcement is toothless. The U.S can’t withdraw from the Paris Agreement until the next Presidential election (assuming he makes it to the end). Yet …
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CONTINUE READINGA Bitter Pill
Will Trump’s Actions Unravel the Paris Agreement? It’s complicated.
It’s official: President Trump has decided to pull the U.S. out of the Paris agreement. So far as I c an, there’s little support for his decision from anyone who is not beholden to the coal industry. Sadly, this decision is only one way in which this President has dashed the hopes of the world. …
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CONTINUE READINGAll You Need to Know About the Paris Agreement
Five posts About the Paris Agreement in One Place
Today we will finally know whether Donald Trump will make good on his campaign promise to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. As background, here are five posts I’ve written since the agreement was adopted in December of 2015. First, Thoughts on the Accomplishments of the Paris COP , which explains why Paris is such a big …
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CONTINUE READINGBeyond Cap-and-Trade and Carbon Taxes
The idea of putting a price on carbon has popped up in unexpected ways.
Conventionally, carbon pricing takes place when the government either creates a cap-and-trade scheme or a carbon tax. But we’ve begun to see carbon prices popping up in other interesting ways. The idea of putting a price on carbon seems to have influence well outside of the classic tax-or-trade models. For instance, carbon pricing has moved beyond …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Way Trump Withdraws From the Paris Agreement Is Almost As Important As Whether He Does
Withdrawal from the UNFCC would say “we don’t even want to talk about climate change, let alone do anything about it”
If, as news outlets are reporting, the Trump Administration makes good on its campaign promise to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, one thing to watch for is how it withdraws. If Trump takes the dramatic step of withdrawing from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, (as opposed to simply withdrawing from the Paris …
CONTINUE READINGSlowly and Grudgingly, Change is Coming to Coal Country
Coal is slowly fading from the power mix, even in Mitch McConnell country,
A sign of the times: Fox News has reported, without comment, that the Kentucky Coal Museum is installing solar panels to save money. This is part of a larger trend. On Saturday, the NY Times reported on shifts in power production in states like West Virginia and Kentucky. For instance, Appalachian Power has “closed three …
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CONTINUE READINGWhither WOTUS?
Trump ordered agencies to reconsider Clean Water Act jurisdiction. Easier said than done.
President Trump ordered EPA and the Army Corps to review the Obama Administration’s WOTUS rule, which sets expansive bounds on federal jurisdiction over water bodies and wetlands. The agencies have sent the White House a proposal to rescind the WOTUS rule and revert to earlier rules until they can come up with a replacement. In my …
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CONTINUE READINGUCLA Law Conference Webcast Today: State Climate Policy in the Trump Era
Symposium Features Sessions on California, Federal, and Multistate Greenhouse Gas Reduction Policy
UCLA Law’s Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment is hosting a full day event today on the timely topic of State Climate Policy in the Trump Era on Monday, May 22, 2017. There will be a live webcast for those who cannot join the event in person. Full details are linked here. And here’s …
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