Obama Administration Winning PR War on Oil Spill?
There's no question that the gulf oil spill that began more than three months ago threatened to become Obama's Katrina. Public opinion in June, for example, showed increasing discontent with the President's handling of the disaster; the media criticized him for vacationing in Maine rather than on the Gulf Coast; and the constant stream of video showing an out of control leak kept the disaster front and center in the news. In fact at one point a majority of Americ...
CONTINUE READINGLong Shot Challenges to the Endangerment Finding
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has filed another legal challenge, this time to EPA's refusal to reconsider its finding that climate change endangers human health or welfare. Although there is a large flurry of these challenges, they seem to be filed more for political reasons and to achieve delay than because of any prospect of success. Although it's never possible to be completely certain how judges will rule, the challenges to the endangerment finding face some sever...
CONTINUE READINGWhat will Obama do about Connecticut v. AEP?
I just got a call from the managing editor of Carbon Control News, which seems to be a pretty informative and useful web-based publication. His question: why hasn't the Tennessee Valley Authority joined the rest of the utilities in asking the Supreme Court to grant certiorari in Connecticut v. AEP, the federal common law public nuisance case concerning greenhouse gas emissions? To me, it seems that the answer is obvious. The Obama Administration wants comprehensive ...
CONTINUE READINGHow About 30/15? Maybe 30/20?
A couple of weeks ago I referenced Mayor Villaraigosa's 30/10 plan, which seeks to take the $30-40 billion of Proposition R money for LA county transit, bond it, and move MTA's transit projects faster. This plan would turn 30 year schedule into a 10 year schedule. Thus, 30/10. Get it? I wondered what all the fuss was -- why does a simple bonding plan require federal involvement? And why is it such a big deal? After a phone call or two, the picture is coming ...
CONTINUE READINGNew NEPA procedures for offshore drilling
Cross-posted at CPRBlog. Today the White House Council on Environmental Quality issued a report on the NEPA analysis that preceded exploratory drilling at the ill-fated Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico, together with recommendations for improving NEPA analysis in the future. According to CEQ, the Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management (successor to the disgraced Minerals Management Service) has already agreed to implement the recommendations. The report offers a detai...
CONTINUE READINGThe Reverend Bayes Visits Russia
In a post last week, I discussed how Bayesian analysis could help with determining whether certain events are due to climate change -- and by the same token, how events can help reinforce the evidence for climate change. The Russian heat wave is a case in point. As the Economist explains: According to Geert Jan van Oldenborgh of the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, a straightforward comparison of the temperatures seen in European Russia this summer with t...
CONTINUE READINGA Beet Generation
On Friday, a federal judge revoked USDA's approval of Roundup-ready sugar beets. Sugar beets are planted on ten million acres in ten states. The order was based on USDA's failure to perform an environmental impact statement prior to the approval. Given that USDA's raison d'etre is promoting agribusiness, it's not surprising that environmental concerns are a low priority. Friday's ruling related to remedies in light of the Supreme Court's recent decision in ...
CONTINUE READING20 Worst Environmental Destroyers of All Time
My friend and colleague Steve Bainbridge picks up on a list going around Red Blogistan, concerning the supposed "20 Worst Americans of All Time." Steve's a conservative Republican, and has no love for progressive politics, but even he says, "I find the collated list pretty much of a joke. It reflects the partisan passions of the moment, not anything resembling a serious verdict of history." Steve's list is much better, with one or two exceptions. But that got me ...
CONTINUE READINGTell Your Reverend To Go Jump In The Lake
Dan, your post is thoroughly persuasive to me, but I'm not sure that it would persuade many climate skeptics. There are two reasons for this: 1) You assume that there is at least a 50/50 chance of climate change occurring. That is a highly conservative assumption -- except for climate skeptics. Most climate skeptics are not unpersuaded by the science based upon scientific reasoning: they believe that climate change is hoax being perpetrated by a liberal cabal. ...
CONTINUE READINGThe Reverend Bayes Visits Lake Mead
Land Letter reports that Lake Mead has continued to recede in the face of an 11-year drought, as we are apparently heading into a La Nina period that will probably continue the drought. This will put some pressure on adaptation measures, particular in terms of Las Vegas: For Las Vegas, which draws 90 percent of its water supply from the lake, the worst-case scenario would occur if the surface drops below the lower of the city's two intakes to 1,000 feet, cutting off th...
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