Region: National
Things to be Thankful For (2020 edition)
Trump has done his best to eliminate federal protection for the environment. But there have been many positive signs.
Nearly four years into the Trump Administration, we’re now accustomed to waking up every morning to learn about a new attack on the environment. It’s also been an awful year in terms of the pandemic. But there are some things to be thankful for. Here’s how I started a similar post in 2017, nearly a …
Continue reading “Things to be Thankful For (2020 edition)”
CONTINUE READINGBattle for the Senate: 2022 Preview
We’ve just been through one big election. But it’s only 2 years till the next one.
We’re only two years away from the next Senate elections. Granted, we’re not completely done with the 2020 Senate elections given the Georgia runoffs. But just 24 months from now, control of the Senate will again be at stake. On average, the President’s party loses two Senate seats in the off-year elections. That’s not a …
Continue reading “Battle for the Senate: 2022 Preview”
CONTINUE READINGReinventing Cost-Benefit Analysis
If the goal is to give decision makers the tools to make better decision, a single-dimensional metric isn’t the way to go.
One key issue facing Biden on January 20 will be the role of the the White House regulatory czar. The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) is a tiny White House agency that is virtually unknown to the public. Yet it exercises outsized influence. OIRA is charged with screening all proposed government regulations using a strict …
Continue reading “Reinventing Cost-Benefit Analysis”
CONTINUE READINGBiden Can Leverage Larger Trends to Make Climate Progress
Biden can use these three strategies to make major progress on climate issues.
With the next president of the United States finally decided, we can now begin moving on to the work at hand. Joe Biden’s election creates an exciting opportunity for climate action. But there’s one clear hurdle: Unless the January runoff elections in Georgia for two Senate seats deliver surprising success to the Democrats, President-elect Biden …
Continue reading “Biden Can Leverage Larger Trends to Make Climate Progress”
CONTINUE READING“Whole of Government” Climate Policy
We need the help of far-flung parts of the federal government to deal with climate.
President Biden will have to rely on administrative action to do much or all of the heavy lifting in climate policy. It’s clear that EPA has a central role to play in climate policy, but EPA does not stand alone. Other agencies also have important roles to play. Fortunately, the Biden transition team seems to …
Continue reading ” “Whole of Government” Climate Policy”
CONTINUE READINGTrump’s Biggest Anti-Environmental Fail
He did his best to destroy EPA completely. But his devastating budget proposals got nowhere.
Trump was awful for the environment. But he wanted to be even worse. If Trump had had his way, only shreds of key environmental agencies would now be left. Although Trump has certainly succeeded in weakening them, the cores of the agencies remain intact. Without them, Biden’s task would be much harder. Trump’s budgets unvaryingly …
Continue reading “Trump’s Biggest Anti-Environmental Fail”
CONTINUE READINGThree key environmental priorities for the Biden administration
Spoiler alert: the most important first steps are not directly environmental
Like many others, I breathed an enormous sigh of relief when the presidential race was called for Joe Biden. Like many others, I will not entirely relax until Biden is actually sworn in. The failure of our current norm-breaking President (and his enablers) to accept the election results is both frustrating and frightening. It also …
Continue reading “Three key environmental priorities for the Biden administration”
CONTINUE READINGSome of the Things Federal Agencies Can Do to Address Climate Change
Current federal law provides many ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, even without a friendly senate
As the likelihood grows that the United States will have a new president who will preside over a divided government, and various policy think tanks line up to offer suggestions for effective action on various important issues, it seems like the right time to shine a light once again on a series of reports issued …
Continue reading “Some of the Things Federal Agencies Can Do to Address Climate Change”
CONTINUE READINGPresident Biden & Climate Change: What’s Achievable?
Divided federal government might still allow possibility for meaningful action
With a victory in the presidential election, Joe Biden now faces a U.S. Senate that still hangs in the balance. But even with a Democratic runoff sweep in Georgia next month, it will be very divided. So what will be possible for a President Biden and his administration to achieve on climate change? Agency action, …
Continue reading “President Biden & Climate Change: What’s Achievable?”
CONTINUE READINGThe Georgia Runoffs and the Environment
Control of the Senate is at stake. So is Joe Biden’s legislative agenda.
Georgia has two Senate contests due to a fluke of timing — one a regular election, the other a special election. Both elections have gone into runoffs. The outcomes will have major implications for the environment because control of the Senate is at stake. The regular election pits David Perdue (R) against Jonathan Ossoff (D). …
Continue reading “The Georgia Runoffs and the Environment”
CONTINUE READING