Region: National
George Will and Conservative Climate Denial
The three types of conservatism all tend to reject climate science, but for different reasons.
A couple of weeks ago, George Will told the Fox News audience that humans have nothing to do with climate change — it’s just natural fluctuations. Will himself has changed his brand of conservatism in the past few years, as the New Republic has noted. At this point, he has sampled two of the three …
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CONTINUE READINGUtility Air Regulatory Group v. EPA: Another Take on the SCOTUS Oral Argument
Decision favoring EPA seems likely
The venerable pastime of U.S. Supreme Court-watching always involves divergent opinions that, as Rick Frank noted, all should be taken with a grain (or even a pound) of salt. The outcome of Utility Air Regulatory Group v. EPA is decidedly uncertain, but I left the oral argument yesterday more optimistic than my Legal Planet colleague. …
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CONTINUE READINGPeering Behind OIRA’s Veil of Secrecy
OIRA is staffed by under-trained, over-worked short-termers.
OIRA is an agency whose functions are as mysterious to most people as its name. It doesn’t help much to learn that OIRA stands for Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. The phrase “regulatory czars” is more informative. OIRA runs the federal government’s regulatory process. Although agencies like EPA are required to have a lot …
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CONTINUE READINGPlain Language, Climate Change, and the Supreme Court
The language of the statute relating to next week’s argument is clear — but there’s a fly in the ointment.
The Supreme Court will be hearing argument next week in Utility Air Regulatory Group v. EPA. It’s basically a very simple statutory interpretation case, except for two things. First, it’s about climate change, and nothing about climate change ever seems to be simple and straightforward. Second, although the language of the statute, prior Supreme Court precedent, …
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CONTINUE READINGHow Legalizing Marijuana Could Help Fight Climate Change
The link between indoor grow operations and energy data
Now that the two states that just legalized marijuana sent their football teams to the Superbowl this year, it’s clear that the stars are aligning for legalizing marijuana nationwide. Sure, legalizing marijuana makes fiscal, moral, and practical sense, but what about the benefits to the environment? Well, it turns out that even the fight against …
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CONTINUE READINGPine Beetles, Environmental Law, and Climate Change Adaptation
Inflexible laws may be the best response to climate change
Anyone who lives or has visited the Intermountain West over the past decade or so has noticed the devastating impact of a mountain pine beetle epidemic on the pine forests from Arizona and New Mexico all the way up to British Columbia and Alberta. As a result of warmer winter weather because of climate change, …
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CONTINUE READINGKeystone Nation: Mapping the Politics of the Pipeline
Keystone XL would run through a column of Red States and depopulating counties.
Looking at three maps sheds some interesting light on the the politics of the Keystone XL pipeline. The pipeline’s geography resonates in an interesting way with political and demographic geography. We can start with two maps that show the proposed route (on the left) and the dates in which counties reached their peak populations. You …
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CONTINUE READINGOffshore Fracking Battles Brewing in the Golden State
Increased attention to fracking off the California Coast; what our state agencies can do about it
As prior blog posts and reports have detailed, hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) has been occurring onshore in California for decades, yet without full disclosure to the public or state regulatory agencies. Recently, new reports of offshore fracking in both California and federal waters have surfaced, showing that fracking has also been underway off the coast for …
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CONTINUE READINGIs It Unconstitutional for the President to Implement Major New Policies by Regulation?
According to the Supreme Court, when statutes are unclear, the President is supposed to make policy judgments. That’s not unconstitutional — it’s just business as usual.
The short answer is a resounding No. Some domestic initiatives obviously do require Congressional approval because they are clearly outside the authority conferred by existing law. But Congress has given the executive branch broad discretion to regulate in many areas, and the executive branch can use that authority for major policy initiatives. The only real …
CONTINUE READINGEmmett Center Files Amicus Brief in U.S. Supreme Court GHG Case on Behalf of South Coast Air District
UCLA’s Emmett Center filed an amicus curiae brief yesterday in Utility Air Regulatory Group (UARG) v. EPA, the U.S. Supreme Court case that will determine whether EPA’s greenhouse gas emissions rules under the Prevention of Significant Deterioration section of the Clean Air Act are valid. Arguing on behalf of the South Coast Air Quality …
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