Climate Change

The Legal Basis for the 111(d) Rule

EPA has structured the rules to protect against legal challenges.

Megan has done a great job of explaining the background of the rules and summarizing the proposal in her blog posts.  I just wanted to add a quick note about how EPA has structured its rules in light of possible legal challenges.  The fundamental issue facing EPA is how to define the “best system” for reducing …

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EPA Releases Section 111(d) Rule for Existing Power Plants

Rule would reduce climate change-related carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2030

Today, EPA formally released its long-awaited rule to regulate carbon emissions from existing power plants under Clean Air Act § 111(d).  Read the full text of the rule here. As leaked to the media yesterday, the rule would have the overall effect of reducing carbon dioxide emissions from electric generating units (EGUs, or power plants) 30 percent …

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EPA’s Proposed Greenhouse Gas Emissions Rules Are Remarkably Business-friendly

Business wins on baseline year, flexible compliance methods will keep costs down

President Obama’s EPA will tomorrow issue proposed greenhouse gas limits for existing power plants.  By all accounts the rules will be a remarkable step forward in the fight against global warming, with the U.S. finally demonstrating significant leadership on an issue on which it has lagged behind for more than a decade.  And yet from …

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EPA to Release Proposed Rule for Existing Power Plants under Clean Air Act 111(d) that Cuts Carbon Emissions 30% from 2005 Levels by 2030

This rule represents one of the most significant actions ever taken by the United States to mitigate climate change

Major news outlets are reporting that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will release on Monday a proposed rule for the regulation of existing power plants under Clean Air Act section 111(d) that would reduce carbon emissions from the electrical generating sector 30 percent from 2005 levels by 2030. This rule follows the recent release …

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Obama’s Section 111d Plan Has Support From George H.W. Bush’s EPA General Counsel, Utility Executives

E. Donald Elliott calls EPA’s approach

When President Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency releases its Clean Air Act Section 111(d) regulations to control greenhouse gases emitted by the electricity sector on Monday, we can expect howls of protest from the usual suspects:  Congressional Republicans, industry groups representing big coal interests, even some coal-state Democrats.  But the Obama approach is already receiving praise …

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Obama’s Clean Air Act 111d Rules Are Legally Required, Not an End Run Around Congress

Massachusetts v. EPA triggered the President’s Action

On Monday, President Obama is expected to release proposed regulations to cut carbon emissions from existing power plants.  Leaks to date suggest that the rules, which will cover 40 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, will be ambitious and far-reaching, requiring cuts of approximately 20 percent from the electricity sector. We can already anticipate …

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Reassuringly Stupid

The House GOP’ is trying to stop the Pentagon from thinking about climate change. Here’s why it won’t work.

The military considers climate change to be a threat to national security.  Naturally, that’s news that the House Republicans would like to suppress.  Last week, they tried to do something about it with an appropriations rider. Luckily, the amendment is so poorly drafted that it would accomplish almost nothing. Here’s the language of the amendment: None …

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Insurance for Climate Disasters

Nobel-prize winning economist Robert Schiller has a New York Times op-ed about the need for insurance against risks of climate change.  Speaking of the latest U.S. climate assessment, he writes: After discussing how to mitigate the coming dangers, the report says, “Commercially available mechanisms such as insurance can also play a role in providing protection against …

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Of Corn and Climate

Trouble may be brewing in the corn belt.

We continue to gain a better understanding of the impacts of climate change, which are sometimes subtle and unexpected.  Two articles in Science report significant new research. The first report comes from two researchers at the University of Illinois.  Corn, like other plants, needs to pull CO2 from the air for photosynthesis.  But the same tiny …

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What Will India’s New Regime Do About Climate?

Modi Will Make Solar-Powered Trains Run On Time

When the world’s largest democracy goes through a political earthquake, people around the world notice, even in the United States. So the victory of the right-wing Hindu nationalist Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and its authoritarian leader Narendra Modi, has the pundits scurrying to explain what it all means. Much of the early analysis is pessimistic, …

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