What Bonneville Salt Flats can teach us about CEQA exemptions
The Bonneville Salt Flats need to be saved. The location where many of the world-records for land speed have been set is in danger. A combination of years of racing, plus the construction of Interstate 80 and alterations in salt mining techniques has meant that the hard salt surface of the flats (similar in hardness to concrete) has worn down and is not being replaced. There is a risk that in a few years high-speed racing will no longer be feasible at the flats. T...
CONTINUE READINGAdapting to Increased Flood Risk in the Midwest
Here is a blog post about adapting to increased flood risk. I wrote it after reading this news release. This is the "classic adaptation two-step". In the first step of the dance, climate scientists identify location specific climate trends. In this case, the RMCO research documents 50 year trends in increased flood risk in states such as Illinois and Ohio. In the second step of the dance, self interested households, firms and local governments respond to ...
CONTINUE READINGWhy We Need Administrative Agencies like EPA
Bureaucrats aren't very popular. But consider the alternatives when it comes to dealing with environmental problems. Basically, bureaucrats are part of the executive branch of government. For instance, the head of EPA is appointed by the President and can be removed by the President at any time. (A few agencies such as the SEC enjoy some protection from presidential removal power, but that's not true for any of the environmental agencies.) I explained in my las...
CONTINUE READINGWhy the Environment Requires Government Protection: Some Simple Economics
The key to understanding the economics of environmental protection is the concept of externalities. An externality is simply a cost that one person or firm imposes on another. In general, an externality means that an activity is causing more harm than it should. Of course, a company or individual could decide to voluntarily correct the problem to eliminate the externality. But if the cost is significant, many people will not be altruistic enough to bear a heavy cost...
CONTINUE READINGThe Climate Misinformation Nation
Scientists are more confident than ever that climate change is happening and is largely caused by human activities. Yet, according to a recent poll, the American public is less likely to believe that climate change is caused by humans than they were even last year. When it comes to climate science, are we a misinformation nation? A new report from the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication f...
CONTINUE READINGDebunking Myths About Energy Security and Independence
The phrases "energy security" and "energy independence" get thrown around a lot in debates about clean energy, climate change, oil drilling and any policy having to do with our energy supply. And they get used in at least two highly misleading ways by groups that are often diametrically opposed to each other. First, supporters of aggressive alternative energy policies frequently argue that policies like renewable portfolio standards will "promote energy independence....
CONTINUE READINGRand Paul, Constitutional Pervert
..and he's not the only one. You can be forgiven for not knowing the name of Arunava Majumdar: he is a distinguished energy engineer who currently runs the Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA - E), and who until a few days ago was President Obama's nominee (since last November) to become DOE's new Undersecretary. It was a great appointment. By all accounts, Majumdar did a terrific job at ARPA - E. He even received the suppo...
CONTINUE READINGComparing Canadian and US Environmental Law: Judicial Review
In a prior post, I talked a little about proposed changes to Canadian environmental laws that would roll back significant protections and procedural requirements. I also talked about some of the differences between Canada and the United States that might be the basis for very different histories of environmental law in the two countries. But there are two additional differences that I actually think are even more critical. I’ll tackle one of them here. US enviro...
CONTINUE READINGHow To Mobilize Public Support for Environmental Protection
To be politically sustainable, environmental law needs grassroots support. Joan Blades, one of the founders of Move-On, recently spoke at Berkeley's Energy and Resources Group about her thoughts on political mobilization. It's well-worth a look. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTK3f-2POi8] ...
CONTINUE READINGWhy Oil Companies Might Want to Kill Renewable Energy
Dan’s post about the connections among various efforts to decrease renewable energy production raises the question of why fossil fuel interests would want to take those steps. One obvious answer is the potential for economic competition in the future – though to the extent that renewable energy continues to be more expensive than many fossil fuel options, that depends on (uncertain) predictions about future changes in the relative costs of the two categories. Anot...
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