Region: National
For U.S. Climate Policy, It’s Oct. 2016 All Over Again
We knew Trump would wreck U.S. climate policy. He told us so.
Four years ago this week, I wrote about environmental stakes in the presidential election. The environmental stakes are equally high this time. If anything, Trump’s rollbacks of environmental regulations have been more thorough and severe than anticipated. He has also worked hard to open up federal lands and waters to more drilling and mining. One …
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CONTINUE READINGElection 2020: The NC Governor’s race
A tight race pits a moderate Democrat against an anti-regulatory Republican.
Because of North Carolina’s unusual electoral scheme, it has a Democratic Governor (Roy Cooper) and a Republican Lieutenant Governor (Dan Forest). The two are now battling for the governorship. One of the big dividing lines is offshore drilling. Cooper is against oil drilling off the North Carolina coast, while Forest is in favor. Roy Cooper. …
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CONTINUE READINGGuest Contributor Samantha Zurcher: The Current State of Wildfire Liability in California
Wildfires Are Ravaging California. Can Electric Utilities Take the Heat?
In recent years, California has experienced its largest and deadliest wildfires in history, resulting in hundreds of fatalities and more than $50 billion in damage. The confluence of rising temperatures, less rainfall, and strong winds signal that the annual “wildfire season” is here to stay, and will continue to proliferate. Every year, thousands of Californians …
CONTINUE READINGBarrett on Standing & Judicial Deference
Her mentor was Scalia, but her style is more like Souter.
With the help of my research assistant, I’ve collected cases by Judge Barrett dealing with standing issues and deference to administrative agencies. Both topics are very relevant to the environment.al crisis. You really can’t draw firm conclusions about her views on these doctrines, but you can draw conclusions about her style. She sticks close to …
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CONTINUE READINGHow Climate Disruption May Undermine Climate Policy
The long-term harms from climate change over the next decades may undermine support for efforts to reduce emissions
Almost two straight months of wildfires and smoke in California are a tangible sign of the impacts of climate change on our lives and our world. This article from the New York Times a couple of weeks ago does a good job of laying out why the wildfires in California are only one example of …
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CONTINUE READINGElection 2020: The Montana Governor’s Race
The two candidates are neck-in-neck. But their environmental views aren’t close.
Last week, I posted about the Montana Senate race. Montana also has a tight race for governor. The candidates are the current Democratic Lieutenant Governor Mike Coney and House Republican Greg Gianforte. Coney is a long-time figure in state politics. Gianforte founded a “customer relationship software company.” He got national attention in 2017 when he …
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CONTINUE READINGWhat They Said About Climate Last Night
It was late in the debate and hard to follow. But the exchange about climate change was important.
There was actually a substantive discussion of climate change at the debate last night. Many people had literally tuned out by then. Others were too distracted by Trump’s interruptions. Here are the key things that were actually said, culled from a transcript of the debate. Wallace: . . . Mr. President, you said, I don’t …
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CONTINUE READINGDouble Trouble in Georgia
Both Senate seats are on the ballot in November, with big environmental stakes.
Georgia has two Senate contests due to a fluke of timing — one a regular election, the other a special election. The regular election pits David Perdue (R) against Jonathan Ossoff (D). The special election pits Kelley Loeffler (R) against an open field, where her principal Democratic opponent is probably Rev. Raphael Warnock, the African-American …
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CONTINUE READINGBig Environmental Stakes in the Big Sky State
Their records put the two Senate candidates far apart on environmental issues.
The current Supreme Court vacancy is a reminder of just how crucial the Senate is. If there were two more Democratic Senators there today, Trump would not be able to fill Ginsburg’s seat before the election. Of course, the Senate matters for other reasons, too. An example of the importance of the Senate in policy …
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CONTINUE READINGShould a New Congress Use a Deeply Flawed Law to Cancel Trump’s Regulations?
The Congressional Review Act was Newt Gingrich’s brainchild. It should be repealed.
The Congressional Review Act (CRA), part of Newt Gingrich’s “Contract With America”, slumbered for many years in obscurity. Then, in 2017, Congress dusted it off and used it to kill fifteen Obama administration regulations. I’m not the first to ask whether there should be payback if the White House and Senate change hands. There are …
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