Climate Change
When Trump’s Name is Forgotten, His Carbon Will Remain
Much of the carbon from his policies will remain in the atmosphere for centuries.
Given Trump’s desire to increase the use of fossil fuels, it’s no surprise that his presidency will result in increased carbon emissions. Some of the carbon will remain in the atmosphere for centuries, an enduring monument to his presidency and his rejection of scientific facts. Before the election, I took a stab at estimating that impact, based …
Continue reading “When Trump’s Name is Forgotten, His Carbon Will Remain”
CONTINUE READINGPublic Lands Watch: BLM Methane Rule
BLM delays compliance date for certain provisions of the rule
As we reported earlier, the Obama Administration promulgated a regulation restricting the emissions of methane from oil and gas operations on federal public lands. Efforts to use the Congressional Review Act to overturn that regulation failed last month. Now the Interior Department is delaying compliance with certain provisions of the rule indefinitely, citing pending litigation …
Continue reading “Public Lands Watch: BLM Methane Rule”
CONTINUE READINGTrump Administration Seeks Ninth Circuit Review in Pioneering “Atmospheric Trust” Case
U.S. District Judge Has Denied Government’s Effort to Dismiss Cutting-Edge Public Trust/Climate Change Case
Back in August 2015, I blogged on a then newly-filed federal lawsuit in which a coalition of children and their legal guardians sued the federal government to challenge the government’s proposed approval of a controversial liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal proposed to be located on the Oregon coast. That lawsuit contends that approval of the project would …
CONTINUE READINGBoosting Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure To Meet Demand
Free luncheon and report release event at UCLA Law on Thursday, June 29th, with keynote by Energy Commissioner Janea Scott
Few clean technologies are as central for meeting climate change goals as electric vehicles. Yet in places like California, which leads the U.S. with approximately 300,000 EVs on the road, the needed charging infrastructure is lagging. Analysts estimate that the state will need as many as 220,000 publicly accessible EV charging ports by 2020 to …
Continue reading “Boosting Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure To Meet Demand”
CONTINUE READINGThe Dangerous Politics of Nostalgia
It’s a good idea to look in the direction you’re traveling, not backwards to your past.
In an airport, I recently saw a sign above the moving walkway advising us to face in the direction we were traveling. That’s sound advice for life in general and policy making in particular. It’s a recipe for failure to try to restore the past rather than looking toward the future. Unfortunately, rather than embracing the future, …
Continue reading “The Dangerous Politics of Nostalgia”
CONTINUE READINGTrump’s Radical Anti-Environmentalism
Trump’s target isn’t just Obama. His rejection of environmental protection goes much deeper.
We often hear about the Trump Administrations’s plans to “roll back Obama’s regulations.” But the Administration’s goals go much deeper. Hyperbole is always a risk when discussing opposing policy views, but to call this Administration a profound threat to environmental regulation is only to echo their own words. When he announced the executive order directing EPA to …
Continue reading “Trump’s Radical Anti-Environmentalism”
CONTINUE READINGWhy Trump’s Faux Withdrawal and Reality TV Announcement May Backfire
Opponents are Galvanized
President Donald Trump’s announcement that he will withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement may have dramatic consequences for his administration – but not in the way he might imagine. His announcement is toothless. The U.S can’t withdraw from the Paris Agreement until the next Presidential election (assuming he makes it to the end). Yet …
Continue reading “Why Trump’s Faux Withdrawal and Reality TV Announcement May Backfire”
CONTINUE READINGA Bitter Pill
Will Trump’s Actions Unravel the Paris Agreement? It’s complicated.
It’s official: President Trump has decided to pull the U.S. out of the Paris agreement. So far as I c an, there’s little support for his decision from anyone who is not beholden to the coal industry. Sadly, this decision is only one way in which this President has dashed the hopes of the world. …
Continue reading “A Bitter Pill”
CONTINUE READINGAll You Need to Know About the Paris Agreement
Five posts About the Paris Agreement in One Place
Today we will finally know whether Donald Trump will make good on his campaign promise to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. As background, here are five posts I’ve written since the agreement was adopted in December of 2015. First, Thoughts on the Accomplishments of the Paris COP , which explains why Paris is such a big …
Continue reading “All You Need to Know About the Paris Agreement”
CONTINUE READINGBeyond Cap-and-Trade and Carbon Taxes
The idea of putting a price on carbon has popped up in unexpected ways.
Conventionally, carbon pricing takes place when the government either creates a cap-and-trade scheme or a carbon tax. But we’ve begun to see carbon prices popping up in other interesting ways. The idea of putting a price on carbon seems to have influence well outside of the classic tax-or-trade models. For instance, carbon pricing has moved beyond …
Continue reading “Beyond Cap-and-Trade and Carbon Taxes”
CONTINUE READINGJoin Our Mailing List
Climate policy is changing rapidly. Stay in the loop with expert analysis via email Monday - Friday.
