On “pretextual” listings of species for protection under the Endangered Species Act
The folks over at Pacific Legal Foundation’s (PLF) blog have been nice enough to post about an article that I co-authored with Berry Brosi at Emory University (paywall protected, unfortunately!). The article investigates the role that citizen petitions and citizen suits play in the process of listing species for protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). We of course appreciate the publicity (any publicity is good publicity, right?). But at the risk of soun...
CONTINUE READINGGreen Tradeoffs
The NY Times reports that Japan and France are phasing out their reliance on nuclear power. Â As an environmentalist, should this make me happy? Â It doesn't. Â Â How confident are you that renewables such as wind and solar can replace nuclear power at roughly the same cost? Â In the short run, GHG emissions in both of these nations will rise as they are likely to substitute to natural gas for a larger share of electricity generation. Â If the price of electricity inc...
CONTINUE READINGUncertainty in environmental law
Last week’s New York Times Sunday magazine had two interesting articles that have relevance for environmental law and policy, specifically about how environmental law deals with uncertainty. The first one has an obvious connection: It’s about Arlene Blum, a chemist (and mountain climber!) who is leading a campaign to end a legal mandate that requires all upholstered furniture in California to contain fire-retardant chemicals, chemicals that might have significant ad...
CONTINUE READINGSetting the Record Straight on Obama and the Environment
The NY Times quoted a prominent environmental activist as saying that Obama's policies are "almost indistinguishable from the policies of the Bush administration." (here) The story suggested that this attitude was not unique, calling "many fossil fuel critics disillusioned and unwilling to do much to support the president." Believing that Obama's policies are similar to Bush's, or that little is at stake in this election environmentally, simply ignores reality. To b...
CONTINUE READINGOcean-based renewable power starts to get real
As drilling for oil in the Arctic begins to pick up, and while each of the U.S. presidential candidates tries to convince voters that he is the one who could approve more offshore oil permits, what has become of the dream of mining our vast offshore renewable energy resources -- wind, waves, and tides? According to TG Daily, on September 13th, the Bangor Hydro Electric Company confirmed that electricity was flowing to the grid from the Cobscook Bay Tidal Project in Main...
CONTINUE READINGReasonably Libertarian: Gary Johnson’s Environmental Views
Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson isn't exactly a household name, but it looks like he's going to be on the ballot in nearly all states. That made me curious about his environmental positions. I have to admit that Johnson's views were better than I expected. You can't really call Johnson an environmentalist, but he looks quite good compared with Ron Paul and others. Ron Paul, as you may recall from an earlier post (here), wanted to abolish all pollution regulation.Â...
CONTINUE READINGGolden Rules for Fracking
Well, this is embarrassing. Kevin Drum, one of the best bloggers out there, posted a few days ago on the issue of whether hydraulic fracturing is good or bad for the environment. Kevin covers the ground that we have here before, namely: Yes, natural gas is better than coal or other fossil fuels in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, BUT: 1. If natural gas development winds up crowding out renewables instead of coal, then the emissions gains might even become emiss...
CONTINUE READINGComments on FHFA’s Proposed Rule on Enterprise Writing Standards for PACE Programs
As we have chronicled earlier on this blog, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA)'s court-ordered rulemaking on Enterprise Writing Standards for Property-Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) programs resulted in thousands of public comments in response to the Agency's Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR)—the overwhelming majority in support of PACE. Today is the deadline for submitting comments on the FHFA's Proposed Rule, which directs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac...
CONTINUE READINGThe Simple Economics of Sustainability
I would like to offer a few thoughts about Dan's recent post where he states; "The economic formulas assume that people want their children and grandchildren to be as well off as they are, no better and no worse. But people actually want the future to be better than the present, and they’re willing to make sacrifices for this to happen. The economists need to wake up to that fact." I suggest that all readers of this blog read the Nobel Laureate Robert Solow's 199...
CONTINUE READINGWhat the Convention Speeches Could Teach Economists About the Discount Rate
It's a bit of a leap from political conventions with their balloon drops and sign waving to the arcane issue of discount rates. But the conventions can be very informative because they're engineered by experts to appeal to the public. That makes them a good indicator of public attitudes and values. Like Mayor Castro, many of the speakers at both conventions spoke movingly about the sacrifices made by their parent and grandparents so they could have better lives. That w...
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