environmental politics
Deep in the Heart of Texas
Some green patches in one of the reddest of the Red States.
The Texas AG’s office seems to do little else besides battle against EPA, and Texas Senator Ted Cruz is in the vanguard of anti-environmentalism. Yet even in Texas there are some rays of hope. While Texas is attacking the Clean Power Plan, the city of Houston is leading a coalition of cities defending it. Other …
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CONTINUE READINGTrump vs. EPA
To combat the anti-environmentalism of his base, we need to stress public health issues.
Donald Trump wants to abolish EPA and leave environmental regulation to the states. Given that many environmental problems cross state lines, it’s not clear how he thinks this would work. But never mind that. A more immediate problems is understanding why this position may appeal to his core voters. For candidates like Cruz, it’s not hard …
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CONTINUE READINGEnvironmental Enforcement in the Age of Trump
Is it time for a retributive turn in environmental law?
Many thought that the BP Oil Spill would lead to new environmental legislation, as happened after past environmental disasters. That didn’t happen. But something else did happen: BP paid $24 billion in civil and criminal penalties. In an era where any effort at government regulation is immediately denounced as a dire threat to liberty, …
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CONTINUE READINGMitch McConnell’s “War on Coal Miners”
McConnell seems to care more about political payback than the miners’ welfare.
Mitch McConnell’s website trumpets that last fall he received an award from the Washington Coal Club “for his work to defend Kentucky’s coal jobs, miners and their families.” His concern for miners turns out not to be so deep. As the Washington Post reported last week, he single-handedly blocked a measure to rescue health and pension benefits …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Perverse Growth of the “Job Killing” Meme
As unemployment goes down and down, talk about “job killing regulations” goes up and up.
We’ve had a number of posts about the claim that regulations cause major job losses. The evidence doesn’t support this claim. (See this post from October). But the claim at least seemed understandable in the depths of the recession, when people were desperately worried about unemployment. The weird thing is that as unemployment has gone …
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CONTINUE READING2016: The Year of Living Dangerously
2015 was a year of forward movement. Much of that could be in jeopardy this year.
We are at the start of a year of danger for environmental policy. 2015 saw many accomplishments in environmental law: the Administration issued the “waters of the United States” and Clean Power Plan regulations, a Supreme Court ruling in favor of EPA’s cross-state air pollution rule, and the Paris Agreement on climate change. Much of this progress is …
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CONTINUE READINGWhat Does Ben Carson Think About the Environment?
He hasn’t said much. Mostly he sounds like Mitch McConnell. But sometimes he sounds like Pope Francis.
Ben Carson is rapidly rising in the polls for the GOP presidential nomination. He has a number of strengths including a demeanor that is the opposite of Donald Trump’s and an arresting personal story. Apparently, for many GOP voters, part of his charm is his lack of experience in politics or government. He has taken …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Top Ten Reasons Trump Should Endorse a Carbon Tax
A bold move, if Trump is brave enough to go there.
Not that he’s asked for my advice, but here are ten powerful reasons why Donald Trump should endorse a carbon tax: 10. It would be completely inconsistent with his past positions. 9. It would shock the GOP establishment. 8. It would shock the media. 7. He’s already endorsed a tax increase for …
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CONTINUE READINGGuess Who Benefits From Regulating Power Plants
The answer will surprise you.
What parts of the country benefit most from the series of new EPA rules addressing pollution from coal-fired power plants? The answer is not what you think. EPA does a thorough cost-benefit analysis of its regulations but the costs and benefits are aggregated at the national level. In a new paper, David Spence and David Adelman from the University …
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CONTINUE READINGIs Jeb Too Green?
GOP Primary voters may think so.
At this point, the GOP Presidential field looks like Jeb Bush versus Everyone Else. (Of course, there’s a big fight over who get’s to play Everyone Else when this particular play opens in Iowa and New Hampshire.) It’s an open question whether Jeb will turn out to be too green for the average GOP primary voter. …
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