Searching for Votes in the Senate
Q: Can the Dems scrounge up the votes to block anti-environment actions? A: Maybe.
Paul Ryan and Donald Trump have vowed to roll back many environmental protections. The Senate seems to be the one barrier against anti-environmental moves by Congress. How strong is that barrier? The answer depends in part on whether the filibuster option remains open. If the filibuster rule remains intact, the Democrats' 48 votes in the Senate give them plenty of leeway in halting anti-environmental initiatives, even if they lose several votes. But there are ...
CONTINUE READINGTrump’s Public Statements Aren’t Relevant in Assessing His Likely Climate Policy
The Media Need to Take Trump's Advisors, and Their Policy Proposals, More Seriously Than They Take Trump's Off-the-Cuff Comments
The media need to get their act together when they report and editorialize about President-elect Donald Trump's public statements. Chief among many failures in reporting on the campaign was the tendency of major newspapers and television outlets to focus on candidates' rhetoric, symbolism, and character, to the virtual exclusion of governance and policy. This contributed to confusion and apathy about how each candidate was most likely to govern. To those of us who ha...
CONTINUE READINGSurviving the Trump Research Funding Drought
A Model for State Support of Climate and Energy Research
Federal funding for research on renewable energy and climate change is likely to take a nose-dive under Trump. For instance, a senior advisor recently announced that NASA's earth sciences research program would be scrapped. In a previous post, I argued that state governments should help pick up the slack. Doing so could have economic benefits in energy tech for those states, as well helping to fight climate change around the world. By the way, in referring to renewable e...
CONTINUE READINGTSCA Update: EPA Selects First 10 Chemicals for Risk Evaluation
Asbestos included in first 10 chemicals EPA will evaluate for human and environmental risks under TSCA
Today EPA released a list of the first ten chemicals it will evaluate for risks to human health and the environment under the reformed Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). These ten chemicals, drawn from a list of 90 in EPA’s 2014 TSCA Work Plan, will undergo complete risk evaluations within three years. If EPA finds a chemical presents an “unreasonable risk” to humans and the environment, it must mitigate that risk within two years. In theory, then, these te...
CONTINUE READINGConflicting News about President-Elect Trump and Climate Change
Transition Team Uniformly Anti-Climate but Trump Signals Open Mind to NY Times
Today we got a sliver of hope from President-Elect Trump about remaining in the Paris Agreement. He also acknowledged a connection between human activity and climate change, something obviously at odds with his campaign rhetoric. Trump told the New York Times he would "keep an open mind" about the U.S. commitment to the Paris Agreement. He also said he thinks there is " “some connectivity" between human activity and climate change. He added, "Some, something....
CONTINUE READINGSomething Else to Be Thankful For — Inertia!
Meet your new best friend: gridlock, litigation delays, and red tape.
Inertia isn’t something we think about very often. Still less often is it something we feel grateful for. But it’s what prevents us from being tossed around by every passing wind. At this precise moment, that’s something we should hold precious. It's ironic that environmentalists should now be grateful for all the features that hold up change, since they usually think of themselves as the vanguard of progress. But right now, you can add inertia to your list of thin...
CONTINUE READINGBe Thankful for Millennials – Our Best Environmental Hope
The present belongs to Trump. The future is a lot greener.
We may not have much to be thankful right now, but I do have one bright thought for Thanksgiving. These are dark days for the cause of environmental protection, and it would be easy to give way to despair. But I continue to believe that prospects will improve. This election was a huge and costly set-back, but it probably does not represent the shape of our political future. Ultimately, the future will be controlled by the people coming of age after 2000. And their v...
CONTINUE READINGMaking China Great Again
America’s Retreat from Global Climate Change Action Cedes Leadership to China (co-authored with Ann Carlson)
China loomed large in Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. He accused the country of stealing American jobs and manipulating its currency for trade advantage. He famously tweeted that global warming was a concept created by the Chinese to “make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.” At its core, Trump’s argument was that China had grown strong at the United States’ expense. And yet, Trump’s plan to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement on climate change w...
CONTINUE READINGSurprise! Bill O’Reilly Says Trump Should Accept the Paris Agreement
No, this isn't a hoax, and I didn't find it on the Onion. Seriously.
Bill O'Reilly has said on Fox News that Trump should accept the Paris Agreement because "it's not that big a deal" and 'it would buy good will." When I read this, my first thought was that it was somebody's idea of a joke, or was just some of that fake Internet news that we've all heard about. But no, there's video here. There's no reason to think that Trump will pay any attention to this, so don't get your hopes up. There have been some signs, however, that Fo...
CONTINUE READINGEnvironmental Law under Trump: A Threat Assessment
Environmental law may face attack on many fronts during the Trump Administration. As we were all forcefully reminded last week, predictions are always uncertain. Trump’s own intentions are not yet clear, and there are many permutations that could affect the end result. Rather than trying to predict exactly what will or won’t happen, it may be most useful to classify the risks into the most likely and the less likely. Three of Obama’s environmental actions have b...
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