Environmental Economics at EPA
EPA's Science Advisory Board is considering feedback to EPA's 2008 draft guidelines on economic analysis. The preliminary SAB draft makes a number of interesting points: EPA needs to recongize that it's discretion is limited: "only the legislative branch has the power to tax, subsidize, or assign liability, and both the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act very clearly specify what kinds of regulations EPA may promulgate." The guidelines are badly out of date, part...
CONTINUE READINGNo drilling for dollars this year
Earlier this week, Cara noted that the tentative state budget agreement struck between California Gov. Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders included permission for new oil drilling in the state's waters off Santa Barbara, despite the fact that the State Lands Commission, the body responsible for issuing oil leases, had rejected the proposal in January. Cara also noted that the drilling plan was not yet a done deal. That turns out to be the story. California has not ...
CONTINUE READINGCap-and-Trade: What are the Odds?
Intrade is now giving 50:50 odds on the passage of a cap-and-trade scheme by the end of 2010. (20% for 2009). I'm not necessarily a huge believer in the wisdom of crowds, but they've done pretty well with election forecasting. Note that there are some ambiguities about the "contract" being traded: "A cap and trade system for emissions trading to be established before midnight ET on 31 Dec 2010 in the United States." Does it apply only to the passage of federal cli...
CONTINUE READINGMoves at EPA
From EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson: I would like to share news of three key appointments to the senior staff at EPA: Lisa Heinzerling, who has been named Associate Administrator for the Office of Policy, Economics and Innovation (OPEI); David McIntosh, who has been appointed as Associate Administrator for the Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations (OCIR); and Seth Oster, who recently assumed the position of Associate Administrator for the Office of Publ...
CONTINUE READINGWater for Power Plants: A Major Concern All of Its Own
As the demand for freshwater grows and supplies dwindle, should water use become a major factor in choosing new sources of electric power? That is a question addressed recently in a hearing sponsored by a subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee on Science and Technology. The United States Geological Survey says that 48 percent of freshwater withdrawals nationwide are for electric power production. Water is needed to make steam in most thermal power plants, and fo...
CONTINUE READINGHow is Cap’n Trade’s brand faring? The Jon Stewart barometer
There's been some good discussion of the pros and cons of the Waxman-Markey ACES bill at Ethan's recent post criticizing cap-and-trade. One commenter worries that , whether or not the bill would ultimately succeed in reducing greenhouse emissions, the public perception of ACES is that it's a corporate giveaway, which harms all efforts for environmental regulation. Red Desert writes, "Voters they see a bill like W-M handing out billions to industries–like finance...
CONTINUE READINGUS won’t appeal Casitas decision
Last month, when he posted about the Supreme Court taking up the Florida beach renourishment case, Rick noted the possibility that the Court might hear another takings case, Casitas Municipal Water District v. U.S., 543 F.3d 1276 (2008). Indeed, the Casitas case, in which the Federal Circuit held that the physical takings doctrine applied to a NMFS order requiring that a water district construct a fish ladder at a diversion dam, had attracted a lot more attention than ...
CONTINUE READINGTime for mining law reform?
Hardrock mining (as opposed to oil and gas drilling) on federal land is a topic that rarely hits the national news. And there are plenty of other high-profile items on the agenda in DC at the moment, like health care reform and climate legislation. So I was a bit surprised, but pleased, to see this editorial calling for reform of the General Mining Law in the NY Times today. The Times is right that this is an area ripe for legislative work. Hardrock mining on public l...
CONTINUE READINGNew California offshore drilling part of budget deal?
Lost in the swirl of reports on what may, or may not, be part of the California budget deal legislators appear to be closing in on is this detail, reported by the AP: Aides to the governor and Legislature spent their weekend rushing to work out legislative language that could resolve the remaining issues. . . . Those include Schwarzenegger's plan to permit oil drilling from an existing rig off the Santa Barbara coast. The proposal opposed by many conservation groups wo...
CONTINUE READINGStanding for trees, redux
The Sunday Boston Globe includes this lengthy piece by Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow on the revival of arguments first made in the 1970s that nature should be granted legal rights and perhaps even standing in court. USC law professor Chris Stone argued in a celebrated 1972 article that places like the Mineral King valley should be allowed to stand as plaintiffs in their own right, with the help of human attorneys or guardians ad litem. He managed to convince Supreme Court Justice...
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