Tapping the Earth’s Power
Geothermal power could play an important role in decarbonization.
There's been a lot of recent interest in geothermal energy. It can complement other renewables as they become a bigger part of the power mix. A recent study by DOE suggests that geothermal capacity could reach 60 Gigawatts by 2050. The basic technology is pretty simple: drill down into a reservoir of super-hot water (up to 700 °F), then use the water to run turbines. The wells have various depths, sometimes up to two miles. If the water is below 360 °F, it’s often...
CONTINUE READINGTrump EPA Takes Aim at Cost Benefit Analysis; Misses
The proposed new EPA regulation on cost-benefit analysis seems to be a dud.
An EPA rule-making on cost-benefit analysis was supposed to be a big win for conservatives and industry. They want to rig cost-benefit analysis by counting all of a regulation's costs but only some of the benefits. But the EPA proposal issued last week appears to give them only a token victory. The issue involves what are called co-benefits, which are positive side-effects of a regulation. For instance, suppose EPA issues a rule to reduce CO2 emissions from coal-f...
CONTINUE READINGEnvironmentalists Can Help Address Racism Through Housing Policy
Restrictive local zoning affects both the environment and racial justice
As the United States grapples with issues of racism and police brutality in the wake of the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers, environmentalists need not be bystanders in the debate over solutions. As Claudia and Steve argued on this blog, environmentalism has multiple opportunities to help address institutional racism, though few issues cross cut racism and environmentalism more than housing policy. Environmentally, housing policy that enco...
CONTINUE READINGTrump’s Latest Deregulatory Ploy: Emergency Waivers
Shaky legal authority, poor analysis, dubious benefits. What else is new?
In an Executive Order issued last Thursday, Trump told agencies to use emergency waivers to avoid environmental safeguards. The order is legally shaky and unlikely to accomplish much. Still, it provided a nice photo op. Maybe he should have signed it in front of a church. I’ll talk later about the specifics, but first I’d like to explain why this will probably have less impact than you might think. Like many of Trump’s executive orders, there’s more smoke he...
CONTINUE READINGToday is World Oceans Day
Our oceans need and deserve more sustained attention
Today, June 8, 2020, marks World Oceans Day. The official UN site carries the theme "Innovation for a Sustainable Ocean." The oceans give our blue planet its character. More than 70% of the earth's surface lies under oceans. They hold 99% of the planet's habitable space. Yet they have often been effectively invisible. Much less is known about our ocean spaces and ecosystems than about the terrestrial world. Threats from overfishing, conventional pollution, and ...
CONTINUE READINGTrump says he will allow commercial fishing in national monument
An Antiquities Act edition of "can he do that"?
On June 5, President Trump issued a "Proclamation on Modifying The Northeast Canyons And Seamounts Marine National Monument." This Proclamation follows a court defeat for opponents of the National Monument -- the DC Circuit last year dismissed a claim by commercial fishing interests that the National Monument was unlawfully designated. Trump's Proclamation purports to modify President Obama's 2016 Proclamation creating the National Monument. The Obama Proclamation...
CONTINUE READINGIt’s just a start, necessary and long overdue
A February report shows green NGOs are adding diversity, but still have a long way to go
The callous killing of George Floyd by a white police officer; the shooting of Breonna Taylor in her bed by police executing a no-knock warrant; the pursuit and murder of black jogger Ahmaud Arbery by white vigilantes; a white woman calling police to intimidate black birder Christian Cooper, who asked her to follow Central Park dog leash rules. The confluence of these widely reported events makes it impossible to ignore how different the lives of black people in America ...
CONTINUE READINGNEPA, emergencies and executive power
Once more we need to ask, can Trump do what he claims to be doing?
Late Thursday, the White House issued another in a seemingly endless series of administrative orders. Under the typically overblown title "EO on Accelerating the Nation’s Economic Recovery from the COVID-19 Emergency by Expediting Infrastructure Investments and Other Activities," it was touted by the President's team as a way to speed infrastructure permitting and another step in the anti-regulatory agenda they have pursued since Trump's inauguration. It is intende...
CONTINUE READING(Still More) Bad News on the Doorstep
New Reports Document Accelerating Wildlife Extinctions, Global Deforestation Trends
While public attention in recent weeks and months has understandably focused on the COVID-19 pandemic and the racial justice shockwaves triggered by George Floyd's tragic death, another disaster continues apace. This week the New York Times published two alarming stories documenting the accelerating decline of our global environment. The first, entitled "Extinctions Are Accelerating, Threatening Even Human Life," focuses on a new scientific report published by...
CONTINUE READINGAnother Casualty of US Withdrawal from the WHO: The Environment
Unbeknownst to many, the WHO does important work on pollution problems.
Withdrawing from international cooperation in the midst of global pandemic is an idea that’s just as bad as it sounds. President Trump's decision to withdraw from the WOrld Health Organization (WHO) withdrawal will also be harmful in other ways. Notably, a major component of the WHO’s work involves the health impacts of pollution and dangerous chemicals. Air pollution is an important focus of the WHO’s work. Appallingly poor air quality in the mega-cities of t...
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