Clean Power Plan
The Machine at the Center of the Clean Power Plan
By William Boyd, Ann Carlson and Cara Horowitz
As attention shifts from last night’s debate to today’s oral argument on the Clean Power Plan, we thought it worth focusing on the machine at the heart of the President’s plan to cut greenhouse gases from the electric power sector: the electricity grid. You might think that the largest machine in the United States is one …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Clean Power Plan: Obama’s Easy Mandate
States Complaining About the CPP Are On Pace to Hit Emissions Targets
Back around the turn of the 20th century, New York’s Republican machine was run by Senator Thomas Platt, whose ability to bridge factional gaps gave him the title of “The Easy Boss.” Even though President Obama has attempted the same thing, he will have no such luck. Witness, for example, the states — virtually all …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Clean Power Plan — Low Cost, High Benefits
Despite claims by industry and conservatives, the CPP’s costs are completely manageable.
The Supreme Court’s stay of EPA’s Clean Power Plan was a surprise, and a questionable action on many grounds. It now seems clear that the stay — along with much of the political fuss about the CPP — was based on very questionable economics. In terms of the stay, a team of economists at Resources …
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CONTINUE READINGUCLA Files Amicus Brief on Behalf of Electric Grid Experts in “Clean Power Plan” Case
Supporting EPA’s regulation of power-sector carbon emissions
Today, several of us at UCLA Law School’s Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment—me, Cara Horowitz, Sarah Duffy, & Ann Carlson—together with Professor William Boyd of University of Colorado Law School, filed an amici curiae brief on behalf of five electric grid experts in support of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s “Clean Power Plan” …
CONTINUE READINGJudge Garland Has a Strong Record of Environmental Protection
If Ever Confirmed, He’s a Good Bet to Uphold the Clean Power Plan
President Obama’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court, Judge Merrick Garland, has a record on the D.C. Circuit Court that environmentalists should celebrate. He is almost always deferential to agency interpretations of statutes, including environmental ones (SCOTUSblog has a good summary of his record through 2010 on agency deference). When he has not deferred to …
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CONTINUE READINGBernie Sanders’ Position on the Clean Power Plan
His proposals would require withdrawing the rule and would increase its legal vulnerability
In an interview with Grist last week, Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders provided details about his views on the Clean Power Plan, the Obama administration’s rule to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants. Sanders said two things of note: the first is that he would change the CPP to increase incentives for renewable fuels; the second …
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CONTINUE READINGDoes Sri Srinivasan’s Clean Power Plan Role on the D.C. Circuit Panel Hurt His Nomination Chances?
He may feel compelled to recuse himself, lowering the odds that the CPP is upheld in the Court of Appeals
Some environmentalists are already criticizing Sri Srinivasan’s environmental credentials because as a lawyer at O’Melveny & Meyers he defended Exxon Mobil and Rio Tinto, a mining company, in cases alleging human rights abuses in Indonesia and Papau New Guinea. He also represented Enron villain Jeff Skilling. But I wonder if Srinivasan’s nomination raises a different, …
CONTINUE READINGWhat Does Justice Scalia’s Death Mean for the Clean Power Plan?
Basically, everything
I am very sensitive to the emotions surrounding the sudden death of Justice Antonin Scalia and feel deep sympathy for his family, many friends and colleagues. He was a towering intellectual force and we will be dissecting his influence for years to come. Yet the death of a public figure — especially one as …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Decision to Halt the Implementation of the Clean Power Plan is Outrageous
And Inconsistent with the Law
As I wrote earlier today, there is nothing good to be said about the U.S. Supreme Court decision today that halted the implementation of the President’s Clean Power Plan. The decision is a huge blow to the President’s climate agenda, it’s a setback for the Paris Agreement and it is a bad sign that the …
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CONTINUE READINGInitial Thoughts on the Supreme Court Staying the Clean Power Plan
Short Answer: There’s Nothing Good to Say About it
The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 half-page order, dealt the Obama Administration a big blow today by preventing its Clean Power Plan from going into effect until the case can be heard on its merits. We know from the order that the Court split in the usual way, with the four more liberal members of the Court …
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