Lessons from Aliso Canyon, Part I
Regulation of the Oil and Gas Sector
Since October 23, 2015, a leak in a natural gas well has been releasing methane gas near the Porter Ranch neighborhood of Los Angeles. Although methane is invisible and odorless, gas companies add odorants to alert people to leaks, and it is these additives, usually mercaptans, that experts believe are causing the physical effects suffered by residents such as headaches and nosebleeds. Gas companies have been storing natural gas underground in this area for decades,...
CONTINUE READINGAn Inconvenient Logic
Justice Scalia's argument in the FERC case contradicts his attack on Obamacare.
They say consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds. If so, Justice Scalia is in good shape. His argument last week in the FERC argument was totally inconsistent with his argument against the constitutionality of Obamacare. Both cases involve change in the incentives to enter a market in the first place. In the Obamacare case, Scalia said that changing those incentives wasn't a regulation of transactions in the market, but in the FERC case he says it is. To go into...
CONTINUE READINGThe Future of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant
A group of scientists, philanthropists, and self-identified conservationists weighs in.
The role that nuclear power could or should play in helping to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions is worthy of serious debate, but the latest nuclear-related front-page story in the San Francisco Chronicle is a head-scratcher. Above the fold, the headline reads “Nuclear plant’s surprise backers,” followed by the following subheading: “Environmentalists push for Diablo Canyon to stay open.” The accompanying article reports on a letter sent by a new coalition iden...
CONTINUE READINGEPA Wins the First Round in Clean Power Plan Litigation
…But this is just the beginning—and the Supreme Court will have a say
As we reported last week, on January 21st, a D.C. Circuit panel denied Clean Power Plan opponents’ request for a “stay”—or temporary suspension—of the rule pending judicial review. Read the court order here. We have discussed the Clean Power Plan litigation at length on Legal Planet. As a quick refresher, the Clean Power Plan is EPA’s rule to control greenhouse-gas emissions from existing fossil-fuel-fired power plants under Clean Air Act § 111(d). I desc...
CONTINUE READINGBig Win For Clean Technology In The Supreme Court Today
Court validates federal rule to encourage more efficient electricy usage
The future of a clean electricity grid will require more decentralization based on clean technology, like solar and energy storage. Large industrial customers are investing in these technologies and also signing up to moderate their electricity demand in response to larger grid needs (i.e. reducing usage when electricity becomes expensive and dirty to produce). Smaller users like homeowners can become part of a bundled, aggregated group that can produce the same effect a...
CONTINUE READINGThe Flint Lead Crisis
Three Interesting Notes About Lead Regulation and Exposure
At this point, you would need to be a hermit to have missed the news coverage of elevated levels of lead in the drinking water in Flint, MI. (Although even that might not be a valid excuse given an ancient, anonymous Roman hermit described lead poisoning). The short version is: in April 2014 a cash strapped Flint switched from using Detroit's water to piping water from the Flint River. The water from the Flint River was highly corrosive, wasn't treated properly,...
CONTINUE READINGLegacy Goods and Environment Preservation
The value of some goods like wilderness today depends on their futures.
Normally, economists imagine, equal experiences become less valuable as they recede further into the future. But some types of goods don't have that kind of relationship with future experiences. They can become more valuable as they extend farther into to the future. Take this blog post, for example. I'm really happy that you're reading it today. But it will be even cooler if someone reads it ten years from now. And it would be super cool if someone would ...
CONTINUE READINGA Little Quieter, Please
Hollywood Stars Might Not Be the Best Public Critics of the Fossil Fuel Industry
Canada's new Liberal government can hardly be accused of being soft on climate change: at the recent Paris Summit it endorsed a target of holding global warming to 1.5 Degrees Celsius over historic levels. So when you hear this from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, listen: Most recently in Davos on Wednesday, [Leonardo] DiCaprio used a major speech on climate change to rail against what he described as the “corporate greed” of the energy sector and called for an e...
CONTINUE READINGDC Circuit Denies Stay of Clean Power Plan
The DC Circuit issued a judgment denying the request for a stay in the case challenging the Clean Power Plan, West Virginia v. EPA. The decision simply states that the petitioners failed to meet the "stringent requirements for a stay pending court review." The court ordered the parties to submit a proposed briefing schedule by January 27, and scheduled oral arguments for June 2, 2016. Stay tuned for more analysis!...
CONTINUE READINGTwo Record-Breaking Hot Years in a Row
Recent World Temperatures Provide Strong Evidence of Climate Change
Scientists in the United States, Japan, and Britain have all confirmed that 2015 was the warmest year in average world temperature in the historical record. This breaks the previous record temperatures of 2014. You wouldn't really expect a record that has been around for many years to be broken two years in a row, unless something was changing. Obviously, it can happen just by chance. But it's not very likely, if weather is just fluctuating randomly. It's o...
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