A 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 burns and other forms of active management. However, we also use our resources more efficiently. Environmental review and compliance do take resources, and they are many occasi...
CONTINUE READINGFire and Permitting Reform
Addressing the difficult parts, regulation and litigation
This is the second of three posts on proposed legislation to address the fire crisis on federal lands (the first post is here). Last post, I talked about why this legislation is essential, and the strengths of the bill that the House passed last Congress. In this post, I’ll talk about the parts of the legislation that were controversial and their potential problems. These were the parts of the legislation that sought to narrow the application of the National Envi...
CONTINUE READINGThe Urgent Need to Address Fire Risk
We need legislative action to accelerate fire risk reduction in general
The Manchin-Barrasso energy permitting bill that I’ve posted about is not the only permitting reform bill that died with the last Congress. The House had passed the “Fix Our Forests Act,” legislation sponsored by Rep. Bruce Westerman, a Republican from Arkansas, with a focus on trying to reduce fire risks on federal (and other) lands. While it is unlikely that permitting reform will be part of any reconciliation process, some sort of legislation is likely to re...
CONTINUE READINGThe Fires in Los Angeles
Wildfire policy and the tragic fires in Southern California?
National attention is (rightly) focused on the terrible fire situation in Los Angeles. At the moment, the top priority is supporting first responders who are trying to control the fires, prevent more damage, and help the people who have lost homes and loved ones. There is (of course) a bunch of chatter on social media about what might have prevented the fires or “fix” the wildfire crisis in the US more broadly. Some of that commentary has been helpful, some…...
CONTINUE READINGLA Fires and the Climate Connection
New UCLA research connects the dots between the climate crisis and the supercharged LA wildfires. "Hydroclimate whiplash" means worse floods, droughts, and fires.
Like millions of Angelenos, I’ve been staying indoors and off the roads, glued to the Watch Duty app, radio, and TV coverage as LA is engulfed by these historic fires. The last 48 hours of coverage has focused, understandably, on the firefight and immediate devastation. Now, it’s time to start hearing about the climate connection, especially from local officials, policymakers, and the TV news anchors that so many people turn to for information during scary urban ...
CONTINUE READINGGovernment by Reconciliation
The reconciliation process avoids the risk of a Senate filibuster. But it comes wth procedural and political complications.
These days, legislation normally needs sixty votes to pass the Senate. This can be a huge barrier. But there’s an exception: the reconciliation process allows taxing and spending measures to pass the Senate on a majority vote. Republicans have big plans to use reconciliation to advance their agenda. That would certainly have advantages for them, but they’re also going to face some serious challenges. Procedural Limits on Reconciliation The first issue faced by ...
CONTINUE READINGA Crisis in Climate Communications
Deadly windstorms, wildfires, and hurricanes constitute something more horrific than just “climate change.”
What’s best for communicating urgency: phrases like “global warming” and “climate change” or “climate crisis” and “climate emergency”? What do audiences take away from these semantic choices? Does it matter what words we use? What about when the entire nation is watching a series of wildfires engulf Los Angeles, fueled by unusually dry vegetation during what used to be the wet season? I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about these questions. And...
CONTINUE READINGWhat policies lead to greenhouse gas emissions declines?
A recent study emphasizes the role of policy mixes in driving short-term emissions reductions
In a series of posts (beginning here, and ending here) last month, I outlined an approach to climate policy that emphasizes the role of subsidies in building political support and technological progress for climate policy. In doing so, I drew heavily on existing political science research and case studies from North America and Europe. But another fruitful approach for climate policy research can be studies that look at policies and emissions results from a large num...
CONTINUE READINGTrading more LNG exports for more electricity transmission?
Recent Department of Energy report indicates that the trade may be worth it
In a series of recent posts (first post, second post, third post), I examined the permitting reform bill advanced by Senators Manchin and Barrasso in the last Congress. That permitting reform bill is now dead. But the reasons for doing a deal still remain. Decarbonizing the US economy requires a massive increase in renewable energy, and that in turn depends on building out the US electricity transmission network, which in turn depends on reducing regulatory obstacl...
CONTINUE READINGTesla’s Trajectory
What do recent developments teach us about the world?
Recent news about Tesla sheds light on the company’s future, the global EV market, and crony capitalism, along with the state of American democracy. It may also say something about Elon Musk’s role in the company. That’s a lot of information wrapped up in Tesla’s stock prices and related developments. Overall, the upshot is good news for the environment but bad news for democracy. The first of these developments is that Tesla experienced its first drop i...
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