Enquiring Minds Want to Know (Ryan Zinke edition)
Depending on the Fall elections, Secretary Zinke could face some difficult oversight sessions.
Control of the House matters for many reasons, but perhaps most importantly because of the power to conduct investigations. We can’t be sure of how the election will come out, of course, but if the Democrats do take the House, they may have some questions for Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke. Here are a few things they might well want to investigate if that should come to pass: What about all those travel expenses? Why did he have to take trips on charter or m...
CONTINUE READINGUnited States v. California and SB 50
Federal lawsuit against California's law to protect federal public lands may not be an easy win
Monday the federal government filed a lawsuit against the state of California challenging SB 50, a state law that attempts to give the state the ability to purchase federal public lands that are sold or disposed of. The lawsuit has gotten a lot of attention in the press, some with assessments that the federal government’s case is very strong. I think those assessments are too one-sided, and that the state actually has a better case than some of those analyses make ...
CONTINUE READINGWhy California gets to write its own auto emissions standards: 5 questions answered
Authored by Nicholas Bryner and Meredith Hankins
Rush hour on the Hollywood Freeway, Los Angeles, September 9, 2016. AP Photo/Richard Vogel This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. Editor’s note: On April 2, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt announced that the Trump administration plans to revise tailpipe emissions standards negotiated by the Obama administration for motor vehicles built between 2022 and 2025, saying the standards were set “...
CONTINUE READINGThe importance of intra-executive branch checks and balances
We are used to thinking of the different branches of government checking each other. Scott Pruitt's behavior illustrates the need for stronger checks and balances within the executive branch
As Dan recently pointed out, Scott Pruitt has a lot of explaining to do these days, about his housing situation last year, about his travel as EPA Administrator, about how two of his close aides ended up with hefty pay raises, and more. Even Fox News is asking questions. I want to make a different point based on the troubling conduct of Pruitt and others in the Trump administration. That conduct highlights both the need to "drain the swamp," as Trump promised but ...
CONTINUE READINGGuest Blogger Ken Alex: California’s Global Climate Action Summit, September 12-14, 2018
The Final Post in a Series on California Climate Policy by Ken Alex, Senior Policy Advisor to Gov. Jerry Brown
[This is the final post in a series expressing my view of why California’s actions on climate change are so important and how they will change the world. The introductory post provides an overview and some general context.] Under the Paris Agreement, countries must evaluate progress towards their nationally determined commitments to reduce emissions every five years, as well as progress towards the goal of limiting warming to significantly below 2 degrees Celsius....
CONTINUE READINGPublic Lands Watch: Fire Appropriations and 2018 Omnibus
2018 Omnibus bill expands future funding for fire suppression efforts, and streamlines environmental review for some timber projects
Tom Schumann helped draft this blog post. The 2018 budget act signed into law on March 23, 2018 will increase the funding available for wildfire suppression, enabling the Forest Service and Interior Department to respond to ever more severe fires while easing the strain on their overall budgets. Before the new law, Congress limited appropriations for fire suppression to the ten-year average of wildfire suppression costs, excluding the highest- and lowest-cost years. H...
CONTINUE READINGEnquiring Minds Want to Know (Scott Pruitt edition)
If the House flips, Pruitt had better be ready for some tough questioning.
Control of the House matters for a number of reasons. It would allow the Democrats to block any further "reconciliation" bills (budget bills that can't be filibustered). It would increase their leverage in negotiations. But at least as importantly, it would empower them to conduct investigations. Here’s a list of some of the question they might well want to investigate if that should come to pass: Why did Pruitt’s security brigade break down the front door of...
CONTINUE READINGCoal and Nuclear Generators are Still Seeking Federal Help
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's January denial of an Department of Energy (DOE) request that FERC ensure grid reliability by propping up coal and nuclear generating plants did not end industry attempts to obtain assistance from the Trump administration. FirstEnergy, an Ohio-based utility that serves 6 million customers, made an emergency request last week to the Department of Energy ("DOE") following its announcement that a subsidiary would close three nuclear...
CONTINUE READINGClimate Change in the Courts
What's next in climate change litigation?
There are three important climate lawsuits pending in federal court. Here’s the state of play and what to expect next. In the first case, Oakland and San Francisco sued leading oil companies. They claim that the companies’ production and sale of fossil fuels is a public nuisance under California state law. They seek an abatement fund to pay for sea walls and other infrastructure needed to address rising sea levels. This lawsuit was originally filed in California s...
CONTINUE READINGGuest Blogger Ken Alex: Climate Solutions
Post #12 in a Series on California Climate Policy by Ken Alex, Senior Policy Advisor to Gov. Jerry Brown
[This is the second-to-last post in a series expressing my view of why California’s actions on climate change are so important and how they will change the world. The introductory post provides an overview and some general context.] As discussed in the previous blog posts, through the ARB Scoping Plan, the 5 pillars of climate action set out by Governor Brown in his 2015 State of the State address (50% RPS, double energy efficiency in buildings, cut oil use in tra...
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