Shackling EPA Risk Assessment
EPA pollution regulations are based on an assessment of the risks posed by pollutants. This can be a complex scientific judgment. CASAC, the agency's scientific advisory board, is pushing for major changes in the way that EPA approaches this analysis. The effect would be to make it much harder for EPA to prove that a risk exists. Currently, risk assessment is based on a "weight of the evidence" approach that considers all of the peer-reviewed literature , rather ...
CONTINUE READINGTrump on the Environment: A Study in Falsehood
Hardly anything Trump says about the environment is actually true, or even arguable.
The Washington Post has a list of false statements by Trump, which turns out to be searchable by topic. They've found that "In the first eight months of his presidency, President Trump made 1,137 false or misleading claims, an average of five a day." As of March 17, he was up to 9,179 false statements. There were 200 false statements about the environment – that’s about one every four days, which compares favorably to the number of misrepresentations on some ot...
CONTINUE READINGThe EPA’s Proposed Standards for Coal Power Plants Increase Pollution Without Real Justification
The public comment period for proposed revisions to EPA's proposed emissions standards for fossil-fuel fired power plants under the Clean Air Act ended last week. Emmett Institute staff have submitted two comment letters on the rule (see Sean’s post on one of the letters here; that letter itself is here). The standards—called new source performance standards—apply to new, modified, and reconstructed power plants, and would retreat from the 2015 EPA determin...
CONTINUE READINGEPA Shouldn’t Roll Back Coal Power Plant Emissions Standard, Conclude Experts in Electrical Grid Management and Pollution Control Technology Innovation
Emmett Institute Faculty File Two Comment Letters on Behalf of Experts, Demonstrating Flaws In Proposed Rollback of New Source Performance Standard for New Coal-Fired Power Plants
In 2015, EPA set greenhouse gas emissions standards for new coal-fired and natural gas-fired power plants under the Clean Air Act's New Source Performance Standards program, Section 111(b) of the Act. These standards ensure that new plants can be built only if they incorporate state-of-the-art emissions controls. Unfortunately, in late 2018, the Trump Administration EPA proposed rolling back the coal plant standards. The looser standard would allow new plants to be ...
CONTINUE READINGSymposium Brief: Insuring California in a Changing Climate
New CLEE report highlights key climate-related risks and opportunities for insurance industry
Climate change poses risks to California’s economy, residents, infrastructure, cities, and natural resources. The insurance industry, which provides financial protection to governments, individuals, and businesses for risks they face, will play a central role in efforts to the harmful impacts of climate change on California. Yet the industry itself is vulnerable to a number of climate change-related risks that may affect its ability to maintain its historical level of ...
CONTINUE READINGCoastal Communities Demand EPA Update Decades-Old Oil Spill Regulations
Written in Collaboration with Camila Gonzalez*
Coastal communities are bracing themselves. Thirty years after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, and almost nine years after the BP Deepwater Horizon rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, they are facing the threat of another catastrophic oil spill. The Trump Administration is paving the way. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will soon release its five-year outer continental shelf oil and gas leasing plan, reversing Obama-era policies and reopening ninety p...
CONTINUE READINGGuest Blogger Stephanie Oehler: California Legislators Propose Framework to Radically Reduce Plastic Waste
Senate Bill 54 would phase out non-recyclable plastics and require more source reduction and recycling by 2030
California may soon pass new legislation that would tackle a major contributing factor to global plastic pollution – single-use plastic packaging and products. While experts continue to push for comprehensive federal legislation on plastic waste, California’s actions could have widespread benefits. State residents consume large quantities of plastics and California is often an early adopter of environmental policies that other states and jurisdictions may later f...
CONTINUE READINGDowngrading OIRA
The acting regulatory "czar" is the least experienced in history.
Overlooked amidst all the other news, the White House picked a new acting regulatory czar earlier this month. The acting Director of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs is Paul Ray, who is very junior and a virtual unknown. It's difficult to imagine that he's going to be very effective at telling cabinet officials or other agency heads that they need to fix their proposed regulatory actions. That's a tough thing to do anyway, especially for a person with...
CONTINUE READINGFormer California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones Joins CLEE to Work on Financial Risk from Climate Change
Register for Wednesday 10am webinar to welcome Jones and discuss new CLEE insurance policy brief
Commissioner Dave Jones just concluded two successful terms leading the California Department of Insurance, where he distinguished himself as a pioneer in efforts to address the risks that climate change poses to the insurance sector. The Center for Law, Energy and the Environment (CLEE) is now pleased to welcome him to our team, where he plans to expand on this groundbreaking work. In addition to his position with CLEE, Jones has also been appointed a Distinguished Fell...
CONTINUE READINGMore States Are Finally Following California’s RPS Lead
California has long led the push for renewable energy mandates, and others are catching on
California’s renewables portfolio standard (RPS) is a flagship component of the state’s robust portfolio of climate change policies. The RPS is complex, but the basic concept is simple: state law requires electric utilities to procure a minimum percentage of their retail electricity from qualifying renewable sources under rules set by the California Public Utilities Commission. California has successfully employed the policy for over 15 years, and last fall set a new...
CONTINUE READINGJoin Our Mailing List
Climate policy is changing rapidly. Stay in the loop with expert analysis via email Monday - Friday.
