Region: National
Surfing the Wave of Executive Orders
As an old song says, “Mama Miá, here we go again!”
One thing that no one can deny is that Trump is brilliant at political theater. People overlook the importance of that at their peril. But theater isn’t reality, and it remains to be seen how many of the grand gestures Trump made today will eventuate in law.Presidents love issuing executive orders. It’s easy to do, and many people will credit the president with major accomplishment. But really, as someone recently said, an executive order is “just a memo on fancy letterhead.”
CONTINUE READINGLitigating Against Trump
Trump’s agencies had a terrible litigation record the first time. It will probably get better – but not that much better.
In his first term, Trump’s litigation record was awful – winning only one case in four by some estimates.The Trump folks should do a better this time. But they may not improve that much, and could still lose more often than they win. Money invested in litigating against the Administration will be well spent. Meticulous attention to evidence and legal requirements is likely to remain a weak point.
CONTINUE READINGDid California Policies Make the LA Fires Worse?
California’s environmental and climate regulations did not make the climate-fueled Palisades and Eaton fires more destructive or harder to fight. Here’s why.
We know climate change is partly to blame. Are California’s environmental policies regarding land and water management also to blame for the supercharged firestorm that has ravaged Los Angeles? It’s not just conspiracy theories on social media or misguided news stories; that’s the position of some congressional Republicans and President-elect Trump, who hold power over future …
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CONTINUE READINGCollecting useful data on NEPA
A 2024 study falls fall short in shedding light on the impacts of NEPA litigation
As I’ve recently posted, permitting reform is (appropriately) in the news right now. That means there’s also a reason for various think tanks, NGOs, academics, and others to release studies that might inform the policy debate. One such study from 2024 that has gotten some coverage on social media recently is a report by the …
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CONTINUE READINGJoe Biden, Hail and Farewell
His climate actions will resonate far into the future.
Joe Biden is about to vanish from the political scene, but not from the history books. The last election casts a pall on his reputation, as does his unpopularity. But history may be kinder, as it has been for Harry Truman and Jimmy Carter. Beyond all else, he has been our best president yet on climate policy. For our descendants, that will matter a lot more than a couple of years of inflation that impacted their ancestors.
CONTINUE READINGWhat Will 2025 Bring in Global Climate Finance?
Last year, international negotiations continued to disappoint on global climate policy, forests, and finance. This year, subnational governments must continue to lead.
As they have for many years, nations came together in 2024 at various climate-related events to push for a brighter future. From the 16th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Cali, Colombia in October 2024, followed immediately by COP29 to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) …
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CONTINUE READINGTalking Climate Policy with an Energy Economist
An interview with leading energy expert Catherine Wolfram
Catherine Wolfram, a leading energy economist who has researched the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act, shares her views of the impact of the IRA, its likely fate, and the energy policies of the incoming Trump Administration. Wolfram served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Climate and Energy Economics at the US Treasury in 2021-2022
CONTINUE READINGHuge Snub for Big Oil at the Supreme Court
Oil companies failed to persuade the justices to shield them from the growing number of state lawsuits seeking damages for the harms caused by climate change.
Big Oil has failed to persuade the U.S. Supreme Court to shield it from numerous state climate lawsuits filed across the country seeking damages for the harms caused by climate change — harms like the historic, supercharged urban fires burning in Los Angeles. The justices held a conference on Friday, January 10 to determine whether …
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CONTINUE READINGDOGE: A Dodgy Path to Deregulation
It’s supposed to be cost-saving, but the savings are trivial on the scale of the federal budget.
Musk and Ramaswami have said that their DOGE project will cut the federal budget by eliminating unnecessary regulations and cutting regulatory agencies. Putting aside what “unnecessary” means here, that’s not even going to be a downpayment on the kind of budget cuts they’re seeking. The numbers are pretty simple. Suppose they eliminated EPA entirely. That …
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CONTINUE READINGA Way Forward?
Reducing the Number of Decisions Could Accelerate Fire Management
This is the third of a series of three posts on how to do more to reduce fire risks on federal lands. The first post is here, the second post is here. In addressing the increasing risks of wildfire, we certainly need to scale up the resources we apply to the problem, doing more prescribed …
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