Why the Inflation Reduction Act Can’t Be Repealed
Republicans are trying to undermine the IRA, but there are at least 370 billion reasons why the landmark climate law will not be rolled back by a future Congress or administration.
There’s a ton of questions about the future efficacy of the Inflation Reduction Act. But whether the law will be reversed before it can get going is not one of those questions. That’s the most basic takeaway from the April 12 policy symposium convened by the UCLA Emmett Institute about the new federal laws to address climate change. It’s not overly paranoid to consider that possibility of repeal, of course. “We've all now lived through several pendulu...
CONTINUE READINGThe Revenge of the Lawyers
Economists ousted lawyers (and law) from their central role in the regulatory process. That’s changing.
As you’ve probably heard, the Biden Administration has proposed aggressive new targets for greenhouse gas emissions from new vehicles. That’s great news. One really important aspect of the proposal relates to the justification for the proposal rather than the proposal itself. Following a recent trend, the justification is based on the factors specified by Congress rather than on a purely economic analysis. That may not sounds like much, but it’s a really big deal...
CONTINUE READINGBrazil Advances in Climate Change Litigation
A new wave of cases is gaining momentum to protect the Amazon and they differ from traditional environmental lawsuits in historic ways, writes guest contributor Silvia Fregoni.
Climate litigation is gaining momentum in Brazil as a tool to protect the Amazon rainforest from illegal deforestation. A new wave of cases differs from traditional environmental lawsuits by highlighting the connections between preserving the Amazon and the climate, the grave risk of greenhouse gas emissions caused by deforestation, and the critical role of the forest as a major global carbon sink. The timing of these climate disputes is not accidental. The moveme...
CONTINUE READINGRevamping Cost-Benefit Analysis
Proposed changes will make CBA more climate friendly.
Last week, the Biden White House released proposed changes in the way the government does cost-benefit analysis. CBA has been a key part of rule making for forty years. The proposal is very technical and low-key, but the upshot will be that efforts to reduce carbon emissions will get a leg up. In particular, the changes will support higher estimates of the harm done by each ton of carbon emissions (the "social cost of carbon" in econ. lingo). One controversy has b...
CONTINUE READINGDoes Upzoning Reduce Housing Prices?
A recent careful study says no, but it suffers from unavoidable data and conceptual problems.
A new study on upzoning is out from the highly-respected Urban Institute, and it doesn’t have great news for YIMBYs: We find that reforms that loosen restrictions are associated with a statistically significant 0.8 percent increase in housing supply within three to nine years of reform passage, accounting for new and existing stock. This increase occurs predominantly for units at the higher end of the rent price distribution; we find no statistically significant evide...
CONTINUE READING2150 and Beyond
Climate change’s long term effects on the planet will be profound.
Most climate change projections end at the end of this century. When the IPCC issued its first report, however, 2100 was 110 years in the future. Looking that far ahead right now would bring us closer to 2150 than to 2100. We’re only beginning to get a sense of the impacts of climate change that far ahead. What happens if we get to net zero? Basically, the temperature will tend to stick at the same level for a long time. Some of the CO2 will get slowly absorbe...
CONTINUE READINGFighting Back Against Lawless Judges: What Does The Case Law Actually Say?
Current standards for declaratory judgments could allow the Biden administration to pre-empt.
Three weeks ago, I argued that the Biden Administration should use the declaratory judgment as a way of pre-empting lawless judges like Matthew J. Kacsmaryk and Reed O'Connor, both of (of course) Texas. I fleshed out the idea in a recent piece for The American Prospect. Since then, the problem has only gotten worse, as O'Connor just struck down the administration's regulations on preventive care under the Affordable Care Act, threatening millions with the loss of ...
CONTINUE READINGCan the New Climate Laws Transform our Transportation Infrastructure?
The IIJA and IRA will spend a lot of money on transportation—but whether they’ll create fundamental change in our infrastructure or continue business as usual will depend on how that money is used.
This is the last in our series of posts previewing the Emmett Institute’s 2023 Symposium, coming up on April 12. Check out the first post, introducing some of the big questions around the IIJA and IRA, the second post, on transmission infrastructure, and RSVP for the Symposium here! Transportation is one of the most complicated and urgent areas of the clean-energy transition. The sector—including personal transportation like passenger cars, as well as air, mar...
CONTINUE READINGU.S. Climate Law: A Broad & Rapidly Growing Field
There’s a lot of law relating to climate change. A lot!
In preparing to teach a course on climate law, I was really struck by how broad and rich the field has become. Back in the day, it was nearly all international law, but nowadays there’s a huge amount of U.S. domestic law. Most people, even those who work on the field, tend to focus on just a few elements. Cinnamon Carlarne and I have written a book that tries to give an overview of the whole subject, including U.S. and international law. I can’t do that in the confi...
CONTINUE READINGCan Sunshine Lower Sky-high Gas Prices?
Gov. Newsom and lawmakers think transparency can lower gas prices at the pump. What about transparency for the price of natural gas?
Calls are growing for more transparency in California’s energy markets. Gov. Gavin Newsom just signed his bill shining a light on gas prices at the pump. But when it comes to the recent surge in natural gas prices that jolted electricity and gas bills this winter, the next step is murkier. Regulators at the California Public Utilities Commission say they have opened an investigation. And Gov. Newsom has formally requested the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission do...
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