air pollution

Why we have the EPA

Air quality in Beijing over the past week has reached horrifically bad levels. The U.S. Embassy’s air quality tracker went from “Hazardous” to “Beyond Index” on Dec. 4. Check out the depressing details via Treehugger and France 24. It looks like the Great Smog of London from 1952. England passed its Clan Air Act 4 …

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Is EPA regulation of carbon dioxide anti-democratic?

There’s been a lot of noise from House Republicans (and others) about how EPA regulation of carbon dioxide under the Clean Air Act is somehow an end-run around Congress or anti-democratic.  But it is neither.

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Ron Paul: The Most Anti-Environmental Candidate Ever

We already tried Ron Paul’s environmental approach, and it didn’t work. This is more or less where the law stood fifty years ago. The result then was massive air and water pollution, and that’s where Ron Paul would take us back to.

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UCLA Emmett Study Says Cool Roofs are Way Cool (and Bring Lots of Environmental Benefits)

UCLA Law’s Emmett Center on Climate Change and the Environment released a new report today called Bright Roofs, Big City:  Keeping L.A. Cool Through an Aggressive Cool Roof Program.  The report is the second Anthony Pritzker Environmental Law and Policy Brief issued by the Center. Cara Horowitz, the author of the report, used a dataset …

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More Oil and Coal, Less Nature and Clean Air

USA Today reports on a speech Perry is set to deliver about energy issues.  It’s a humdinger.  Here are the main points: •Open federal lands to more energy exploration and production, including ANWAR and lands in the Mountain West – but not the Everglades, a tribute to Florida as a primary state. More offshore drilling …

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Supreme Court Looking Hard at Litigation Challenge to CARB Marine Fuel Regulations

The U.S. Supreme Court today asked the Solicitor General for his views as to whether the Court should hear and decide a controversial case from California challenging the California Air Resources Board’s authority to regulate ocean shipping.   The specific CARB regulations at issue require marine vessels operating in state waters and ports to use …

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Accounting for The Harm of Coal

Much of the effort to rollback current EPA regulations focuses on coal-fired electrical power plants.  An article in the August issues of the American Economic Review sheds light on the issues at stake.  “Environmental Accounting for Pollution in the United States Economy” is an effort to assess the damages caused by various polluting activities. The …

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TRAIN Wreck!

From a political point of view, it’s really interesting to see this melding of special interest legislation with populist appeals to the economy. It’s a little discouraging to see these efforts to increase air pollution, however, if you or your family members happen to have asthma or other respiratory issues, or if you just care about the environment.

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Two weeks of protest against Keystone XL ends Saturday

Two weeks of civil disobedience and protest against the Keystone XL pipeline ends this Saturday (Sept. 3), with a rally and final sit-in. Over 1,000 people have been arrested, including my former professor , Gus Speth. The protestors want President Obama to deny a permit to construct a pipeline to bring oil from Canadian tar …

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Lost in the Ozone Again

Should Perry get credit for any recent downward trend ozone?The State’s reported downward trend in ozone levels began in 2006 at the earliest, whereas Perry took office in 2000 when Bush resigned.

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