Jon Cannon To Be EPA Deputy Administrator
President Obama has nominated Jon Cannon, Professor of Law at University of Virginia, to be the EPA's new Deputy Administrator, subject to Senate confirmation. Cannon has extensive experience in the federal government, including three years as the EPA's General Counsel from 1995-98. In my view he's a great appointment. His background gives him enormous experience, he's incredibly smart and knowledgeable and he's genuinely a nice, thoughtful and reasonable guy. His politi...
CONTINUE READINGWhy futures markets won’t save species
Conflict, or perceived conflict, between profits and conservation drives much of the controversy over implementation of the Endangered Species Act. Landowners and resource users resist species listing and protection because it comes at their expense. For years we've been talking about whether and to what extent to incorporate compensation or other economic incentives for conservation into the ESA. The same intuition drives the quest to incorporate ecosystem services int...
CONTINUE READINGCourt ruling will force EPA to take action it was required to take in 1983 (!)
It is not unusual for the federal government to neglect its statutory duties under federal environmental laws; when it does, citizen suits are the primary means of ensuring that the government follows the law. Sometimes federal agencies' inaction results from lack of resources, and sometimes it results from intentionally interpreting its duties in a minimalist manner. In some cases, the government can at least plausibly argue that it has followed the law, and the ...
CONTINUE READINGOf Smelt, Salmon & Whales
The inter-connectivity of our ecosystem has been underscored by new and alarming scientific findings. Recently, the National Marine Fisheries Service has reported that the dramatic, well-documented declines in Pacific salmon fisheries may lead to the extinction of Pacific killer (Orca) whales. This killer whale population, a unique species, is already endangered under federal law, and currently numbers only 84 animals; they normally inhabit ocean waters off the Pacif...
CONTINUE READINGUCLA Working Conference on Nanotechnology Policy
The2009WorkingConferenceonNanotechRegulatoryPolicywillbeheldattheUniversityofCalifornia,LosAngelescampusonApril17. TheConferencewillbringtogetheraninterdisciplinarygroupofscholarsandresearchers,policymakers,non-governmentalorganizations,andbusinessesforaction-orientedworkshoppanelsonthescienceandpolicyofnanotechnology. ThegoaloftheConferenceistocriticallyevaluateseveralspecificpolicyproposalsforrespondingtothepotentialpublichealthandenvironmentalimpactsofnanotechnolo...
CONTINUE READINGPresident Obama’s Remarks on Energy Tonight
"It begins with energy. "We know the country that harnesses the power of clean, renewable energy will lead the 21st century. And yet it is China that has launched the largest effort in history to make their economy energy efficient. We invented solar technology, but we've fallen behind countries like Germany and Japan in producing it. New plug-in hybrids roll off our assembly lines, but they will run on batteries made in Korea. "Well, I do not accept a future where the...
CONTINUE READINGAnother Posthumous Loss for the Bush EPA
Greenwire Reports: The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that U.S. EPA's 2006 standards for fine particulate matter were, "in several respects, contrary to law and unsupported by adequately reasoned decisionmaking." At issue was the rule that kept the primary standard for annual fine particulate matter at 15 micrograms per cubic meter, even though EPA's staff and scientific advisers had recommended a standard between 13 and 14 micrograms. S...
CONTINUE READINGSupreme Court Denies Cert. in Mercury Case
The Supreme Court has declined to review a lower court opinion striking down the Bush Administration's regulation of mercury. This isn't a huge surprise since the Obama Admimistration indicated that the lower court opinion was consistent with its own regulatory policy, leaving only the industry to seek revieew. The lower court opinion is one of a spate of opinions in the last year or so finding that the Bush Administration's actions were inconsistent with clear statu...
CONTINUE READINGEnvironmental Refugees
The Washington Post discusses eco-migration today: In Bangladesh, about 12 million to 17 million people have fled their homes in recent decades because of environmental disasters -- and the low-lying country is likely to experience more intense flooding in the future. In several countries in Africa's Sahel region, bordering the Sahara, about 10 million people have been driven to move by droughts and famines. In the Philippines, upwards of 4 million people have moved from...
CONTINUE READINGBlowing Off Steam: Cost-Benefit Analysis and the Clean Water Act
The Entergy case, which is now before the Supreme Court, involves EPA regulation of power plant's cooling systems. This is an important environmental issue because the cheapest systems kill acquatic life in the front-end intake process and then raise the temperature of water bodies in the back-end discharge. More broadly, the case raises questions about whether EPA can reinterpret the Clean Water Act to convert the statute's mandated technology-based standards into ...
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