Emergency powers

Executive Disorders

One after another, Trump has let loose destructive blasts at the environment to promote fossil fuels, mining, and logging.

We all know that Trump has issued a slew of executive orders since taking the oath of office. We also know that many of these are aimed to promoting fossil fuels, mining, and logging at the expense of the environment, while disfavoring renewable energy.  Still, it’s impressive when you put the list together to see the full onslaught. 

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Trump’s Self-Defeating NEPA “Reforms”

Rather than streamlining the process, Trump is gumming up the works.

Trump has taken some dramatic steps in the name of improving use of NEPA, the statute governing environmental reviews of projects.  The goal is to speed up the permitting process and make it more efficient. The reality is that his efforts will create chaos and uncertainty, with the likely effect of slowing things down. 

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Angry About Stalled Progress on Fossil Fuels? Biden’s Not the Culprit.

Sorry, no president can single-handedly fix climate policy. And certainly not with this Supreme Court.

With Biden two-thirds of the way through his term in office, he seems to be catching a lot of flack from climate activists. On Sunday, thousands of angry demonstrators gathered to protest Biden’s U.N. visit. “If you want our vote if you don’t want the blood of our generations to be on your hands, end …

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“National Security” Coal-Bailout Collapses

Trump demanded the use of national security powers to subsidize the coal industry. Looks like that’s not happening.

In its desperate effort to save the failing American coal industry, the Trump Administration promised to use emergency powers to keep coal-fired power plants in operation even though they’re not economically viable. That would have been the kind of disruptive change that Trump promised to bring to Washington. But the effort seems to have gone …

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Emergency Powers: A Two-Edged Sword

Trump is considering using emergency powers to save coal plants. Turnabout would be fair play.

The Trump Administration is considering using emergency powers to keep coal-fired power plants in operation even though they’re not economically viable. That would require an extraordinary stretch of the statutes in question. And if the statutes are interpreted that broadly, a future president could easily use them for the opposing purpose — forcing utilities to …

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