cap-and-trade
Climate Bill Passes House!
The Waxman-Markey bill narrowly passed the House yesterday. This is a historic achievement. As Cara reported yesterday, there are some real qualms about whether the bill is strong enough — and particularly about its heavy reliance on offsets. Environmentalists have never liked offsets, partly because they lessen the technology-forcing effect of emissions controls and partly …
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CONTINUE READINGIs Waxman-Markey Even Worth It?
If Michael O’Hare is right about this, then Waxman-Markey might not be worth the candle: Waxman appears to have sold out the indirect land use issue in a deal with Peterson on the climate change bill: “Waxman also consented to block EPA from calculating “indirect” greenhouse gas emissions from land-use changes when implementing the federal …
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CONTINUE READINGWaxman-Markey May Lower Household Costs
In another report issued today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency counters the predictions of some critics of climate change legislation by concluding that the Waxman-Markey bill would not lead to higher energy costs for consumers. In fact, the EPA concludes that household energy costs actually may go down. In one scenario, each household on average …
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CONTINUE READINGCalifornia environmental justice advocates sue Air Resources Board over climate scoping plan
UPDATES: California Air Resources Board Chair (and former UCLA colleague) Mary Nichols comments below. The Complaint in this action is available here (caption page separately available here). A coalition of California environmental justice advocates has filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of the California Air Resources Board‘s scoping plan for AB 32, the landmark climate …
CONTINUE READINGClimate bill has votes to get through key House panel, says Waxman
Breaking news: Greenwire (via the New York Times) and Grist.com are reporting that Rep. Henry Waxman said tonight he “believe[s] we’ll have the votes for passage” to move his climate bill through the House Energy and Commerce Committee. (The Houston Chronicle is reporting that Rep. Waxman “expects” to have sufficient votes but takes a tone of skepticism.) Waxman …
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CONTINUE READINGDitching cap and trade (the phrase, not the proposal)
Looks like the White House is taking note of the same polling data Dan blogs about here on the public’s antipathy toward, or misunderstanding of, the phrase “cap and trade”. This from the LA Times, in a story generally chronicling the administration’s efforts to figure out the best language and framing for its climate policies: …
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CONTINUE READINGNew and Noteworthy from the Ecology Law Quarterly
The latest issue of ELQ — full content available free here — is centered on two broad themes: 1) learning from other states, countries and international experiences and 2) the failures of administrative law as an environmental management tool. The issue includes the following articles: * The Transformation of Modern Administrative Law: Changing Administrations and …
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CONTINUE READINGPutting a Price on Carbon: Is It Needed? Is It Enough?
The bottom line seems to be that we need to get the price of carbon right — or as close to “right” as possible — but we need subsidies for R & D and we need direct regulation of the major categories of emitters.
CONTINUE READINGCustomer Impacts From Waxman’s Cap & Trade? Let’s Not Exaggerate
In Wednesday’s New York Times, Felicia Barringer reports on pocketbook concerns related to the Waxman-Markey carbon cap and trade proposal as expressed by parishioners at St. Louis’ Greater Mount Carmel Baptist Church. The article contains the following statement, attributed to a representative from the local electric utility: “Jaime Haro, Ameren UE’s director of asset management …
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CONTINUE READINGFree Allowances! Get Your Free Allowances!
From WashPo, The Obama administration might agree to postpone auctioning off 100 percent of emissions allowances under a cap-and-trade system to limit greenhouse gas pollution, White House science adviser John P. Holdren said today, a move that would please electricity providers and manufacturers but could anger environmentalists. Why would this “anger environmentalists’? I certainly see …
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