Clean Air Act

UCLA Law Symposium: Perspectives on Climate Change

Please join us at UCLA Law School on April 15th for the 2011 Environmental Law Symposium, Perspectives on Climate Change, Pollution and the Clean Air Act. The keynote speaker will be Gina McCarthy, Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation. Please RSVP. You can also check out the program for more information. Panel …

CONTINUE READING

Boehner Tweet on Plastics Sums Up Republican Disdain for the Environment

In hardly the biggest news story of the day, but one that really irks me, House Speaker John Boehner tweeted this morning, “The new majority — plasticware is back.”  He’s referring to the move by the Republican majority to eliminate deposed Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s initiative to green the House of Representatives.  The initiative included — …

CONTINUE READING

The Huge Benefits of Air Pollution Regulation

EPA has a new report on the benefits from the increased pollution controls required under the 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act.  According to E&E, A two-decade-old crackdown on smog and soot under the Clean Air Act will yield about $2 trillion in annual benefits by 2020, according to a study that was released …

CONTINUE READING

Six Myths About Climate Change and the Clean Air Act

The Clean Air Act is a broad statute that provides sensible remedies for anything which goes into the air and later causes harm. There’s nothing inappropriate about using the statute to address greenhouse gases.

CONTINUE READING

The Legal Underpinnings of EPA’s Climate Rules

The Clean Air Act is a formidably technical and complex statute — I often tell my students that it’s like the Internal Revenue Code except not as clearly written. But even those who know the statute may have been surprised by a couple of provisions that EPA is using to address greenhouse gases.

CONTINUE READING

More Garbage Conservative Constitutional Theory

James Joyner is one of the few conservatives who actually try to come up with intellectually coherent policy positions, and he often does.  So maybe we should give him a pass when he blows it. But wow, is this one a doozy.  The EPA has decided to begin to issue greenhouse gas regulations, as it …

CONTINUE READING

Republicans vow to attack federal climate change efforts

The New York Times reports that senior Republicans are saying they will aggressively attack our administration’s environmental and climate change initiatives if their party wins a majority in the House of Representatives.  EPA will be on the defensive, using its resources to defend against these attacks rather than move forward with regulatory initiatives that both …

CONTINUE READING

Another Senator paddling backwards on climate (are we up a creek yet?)

News reports yesterday have the moderate Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), at a meeting in his home state, expressing firm opposition to EPA’s regulation of greenhouse gases.  Here’s a link to the short video clip on YouTube.  Up in the air is whether this means he will support any of the formal measures being considered by the Senate to strip …

CONTINUE READING

EPA stands by endangerment finding

EPA today issued its response to the 10 petitions that have been filed asking it to reconsider its December 2009 determination that greenhouse gas emissions cause or contribute to air pollution that may reasonably be expected to endanger public health or welfare. To no one’s surprise, the agency is standing by its earlier finding. As …

CONTINUE READING

DC Circuit upholds air pollution standards for lead

The Legal Planet team has been so busy fretting over the Gulf oil spill (not to mention getting our grading done) that we’ve skipped over some important environmental law developments. Here’s one. In May, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, upheld EPA’s National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for lead against an …

CONTINUE READING

Join Our Mailing List

Climate policy is changing rapidly. Stay in the loop with expert analysis via email Monday - Friday.

TRENDING