New federal appointees’ sharp differences will make EPA/OMB relationship one to watch
As Dan notes in an earlier post, Cass Sunstein has been selected to direct the White House office that oversees regulation by agencies, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs within the Office of Management and budget. An in-depth article in today's Los Angeles Times discusses the controversy over his nomination among environmental and labor advocates. From the Times: The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs might sound like a remote bureauc...
CONTINUE READINGLisa Heinzerling to EPA
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson has appointed Georgetown law professor Lisa Heinzerling to be her chief advisor on climate change. Heinzerling was editor-in-chief of the University of Chicago Law Review and clerked for Judge Richard Posner. She co- authored Priceless, a critique of cost benefit analysis, and also wrote the lead brief for the plaintiffs in Massachusetts v. EPA, the Supreme Court opinion on climate change. This is a welcome appointment from the ...
CONTINUE READINGGood News for California
According to the Washingston Post: Obama will instruct the Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider whether to grant California a waiver to regulate automobile tailpipe emissions linked to global warming, sources said, and he will order the Transportation Department to issue guidelines that will ensure that the nation's auto fleet reaches an average fuel efficiency of 35 miles per gallon by 2020, if not earlier. The car industry has challenged the California regu...
CONTINUE READINGNew research points to the need to build resilience to climate change’s impacts
Except when he does not!
While many among us are working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the climate is already changing and will continue to change for a long while even if we do everything we can to reduce emissions. As a result, we will need to adapt to our new reality, by building the resilience to deal with changing conditions. I (along with co-blogger Dan Farber and many others) just returned from a two-day interdisciplinary conference on adaptation to climate change in the Southwester...
CONTINUE READINGSunstein and the Environment
To the dismay of many environmentalists, President Obama has selected Professor Cass Sunstein to head a key department at OMB. This department has been in charge of applying cost-benefit analysis to environmental regulations. For example, the Center for Progressive Regulation (CPR) has issued a report expressing great concern about the selection. According to CPR: President Obama’s apparent choice of Professor Cass Sunstein to direct OMB’s Office of Info...
CONTINUE READINGConservation in a warming world
The latest issue of the journal Science includes another reminder that our current approach to conservation is ill-suited to a world where the climate is changing rapidly. A study led by Phillip van Mentgem of the U.S. Geological Survey (323 Science 521 (Jan. 23, 2009), subscription required) finds that trees are dying more rapidly in old-growth forests across the west, even in areas unaffected by wildfires or insect infestations. The rate at which new trees become e...
CONTINUE READINGSecretary Clinton makes her first environmental law mistake
As Cymie notes, Secretary of State Clinton seems committed to working for a new climate agreement. And that's a good thing (although as I have argued elsewhere, it's really USTR that should take the lead on climate change negotiation.). But Clinton should stop digging a hole for herself. She said that the Committee will be involved in negotiating a treaty that the world can agree to and that the "Senate can ratify." Hillary--don't go over to the dark side! The vas...
CONTINUE READINGDoes Anybody Know Who the Commerce Secretary Is?
Does anybody really care? Really. Its budget of between 6 and 7 billion dollars is by far the smallest of any Cabinet Department. That kind of money would be a rounding error for the Pentagon or HHS; hell, the Pentagon lost that much money in transit between Washington and Baghdad. And what really does it do? It's sort of a hodgepodge of unrelated things. Its biggest normal budget item is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which really should be in EP...
CONTINUE READINGObama and Climate Change
Though the environmental world, both globally and domestically, is anxiously anticipating an Obama Administration climate plan, the economy and national security may slow any comprehensive response down. Congressional insiders I've spoken with doubt we'll see the passage of any signficiant climate legislation until 2010 at the earliest. But the Obama Administration faces many more immediate questions about federal greenhouse gas regulations that are the result of...
CONTINUE READINGUndoing the new ESA consultation regulations?
Nick Rahall (D - W.Va.), joined by 12 co-sponsors, has introduced a joint resolution under the Congressional Review Act to overturn the Bush administration's midnight regulations on ESA section 7 consultation. Some of the many problems with the new regulations have been explained in comments submitted by Berkeley Law profs Eric Biber (coordinating the work of a group of distinguished law professors) and Holly Doremus (working with Margaret Clune Giblin on behalf of the ...
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