EPA
Rand Paul and the Environment
Rand Paul, Kentucky’s Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, has obviously garnered huge attention in the last few days for his comments on civil rights. But his views about environmental topics ought to grab a few headlines too. Consider the following: — He’s called the Environmental Protection Agency “out of control,”, and ” a regulatory body run amok,” — …
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CONTINUE READINGEPA’s Clean Air Act tailoring rule finalized today
Just a quick post to point you to the fact sheet on the final tailoring rule, the final rule itself, and an early Greenwire piece on its content. Sure enough, as Adminstrator Jackson had been signaling for some time, the final rule significantly increases the GHG emission thresholds that will trigger New Source Review / PSD coverage, …
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CONTINUE READINGEPA proposes to veto mountaintop removal project
Cross-posted at CPRBlog. EPA’s seesaw on mountaintop removal mining continues. Last time I wrote about this topic it was to note EPA’s approval of the Hobet 45 project. Today, EPA announced that it is proposing to veto the Spruce No. 1 project, as it had threatened last fall. Should EPA follow through on its proposal, …
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CONTINUE READINGU.S. Chamber of Commerce adopts “grassroots” organizing tactic, redoubles attacks on climate science and law
The Los Angeles Times reported last week that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce – a significant and strident voice in opposition to anything that our government might possibly do to reduce greenhouse gas emissions – is using its considerable financial resources to dramatically increase its constituent base through “grass-roots organizing,” and that its influence is …
CONTINUE READINGSettlement marks a step forward on ocean acidification*
Cross-posted at CPRBlog. As Cara and Dan have explained, ocean acidification is the other big climate change problem. As atmospheric CO2 levels rise, more CO2 dissolves in the oceans. That in turn increases ocean acidity, which changes the ecology of the seas, most obviously by reducing the ability of corals and a variety of other …
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CONTINUE READINGNew bill in Congress by Rockefeller (S. 3072) would delay regulation of GHGs under the Clean Air Act
As Cara and I have already discussed in detail, the Environmental Protection Agency has committed to delay the rollout of regulation of stationary sources of greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act, and to regulate only the very largest sources. This backtracking from EPA has been a response to efforts by Senator Lisa Murkowski …
CONTINUE READINGTailoring the tailoring rule – we’re up to 75,000 tpy
Last week, Sean asked whether the EPA was backing off its plan to begin regulating stationary sources of greenhouse gas pollutants under the Clean Air Act. This week, we learn more about the answer (“yes”) and some details about how much it’s backing off (“lots”). Background: The CAA requires EPA to begin regulating greenhouse gases …
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CONTINUE READINGIs EPA backtracking on Clean Air Act greenhouse gas regulation?
UPDATE: Cara discusses in this post some further developments that make the EPA’s plans more concrete, and concludes that the EPA is backtracking significantly from its proposed rule by delaying the timetable and by regulating fewer facilities. **** Last fall, our Environmental Protection Agency appeared to be on the verge of moving very quickly to …
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CONTINUE READINGKeeping Up With EPA’s Rulemaking Efforts
A new Web-based “dashboard” is now available on EPA’s Web site. Created by the Office of Policy, Economics, and Innovation, this site provides a transparent way to keep track of the agency’s priority rulemakings. It provides users with earlier and more targeted information as well as special filters that allow users to find rules and …
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CONTINUE READINGLining up for endangerment litigation
February 16 marked the deadline to challenge EPA’s finding that greenhouse gas emissions endanger public health and welfare in federal court. According to BNA’s Environment Reporter, 16 such challenges were filed. The earliest seems to have come from an entity called the “Coalition for Responsible Regulation,” joined by mining and livestock interests (hat tip to …
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