Climate Change

Ninth Circuit Rejects Water Agency’s “Area of Origin” Water Rights Claim

Responding to the current drought conditions confronting California, state and federal water project officials have announced cutbacks in anticipated water deliveries this summer and fall from both the Central Valley Project (CVP) and State Water Project.  It’s with that sobering backdrop that a recent decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit …

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Clearing Up the Standing Mystery in the Biomass Case

In a post last week, I expressed puzzlement about the D.C. Circuit’s failure to discuss standing in Center on Biological Diversity v. EPA, which involved EPA’s decision to delay greenhouse gas regulations for facilities burning biomass. The question of standing in climate change cases has been controversial, so this mystery sparked extensive discussion among environmental …

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The D.C. Circuit’s Sleeper Decision in CBD v. EPA

Before I even get to the majority opinion in Center for Biological Diversity v. EPA, a quick word about the concurring opinion by Judge Brett Kavanaugh.  Kavanaugh may be the most outspoken conservative on a court composed almost entirely of Republican appointees.  So what he has to say about climate change is really noteworthy:  In …

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Why Hide the Congressional Research Service’s Reports from the Public?

Q: Is there anything connected with Congress that actually works these days? A: Yes, the Congressional Research Service and the General Accounting Office. A key difference between these adjuncts to Congress, however, relates to public accessibility. The Congressional Research Service can be a really valuable resource, but their reports can be difficult to locate.  Unlike …

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EPA and the Social Cost of Carbon: Part II

This is Part II of a two-part series of posts discussing Eric Posner’s critiques of the role of cost-benefit analysis in climate regulation.  In Part I of this post series, Rhead described the social cost of carbon concept, discussed the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) recently updated social cost of carbon estimate of $38 …

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EPA and the social cost of carbon

This is Part I of a two-part series of posts discussing Eric Posner’s critiques of the role of cost-benefit analysis in climate regulation.  The social cost of carbon (SCC, for policy wonks) represents the cost, in today’s dollars for the harm of emitting a ton of carbon dioxide equivalent gas into the atmosphere. Recently, the …

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Climatopolis Revisited

Back in 2010, I published my book Climatopolis.  This book presents a free markets approach for thinking about how we will adapt to the very real threat of climate change.  I argue that urbanization, innovation, migration, competition and economic growth will play crucial roles  in protecting us from a scary emerging challenge.   I discuss …

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Place Based Subsidies are the Wrong Way to Adapt to Climate Change

The NY Times wrestles with whether tax payers should be paying for the  protection of coastal Queens, NY.  I agree with Mr. Goldstein; Eric A. Goldstein, a senior lawyer at the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental advocacy group, said he was sympathetic to Broad Channel and understood why residents have been lobbying hard for aid. …

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EPA Sends Climate Rules for New Power Plants to OMB

Though I was somewhat skeptical that the  Obama climate plan unfurled last week included much new, I’ve also argued previously that if the administration uses its extensive power under the Clean Air Act to regulate both new and existing power plants, the President will really have accomplished something on the climate change front.  It looks …

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The Bogus Trade-Off Between the Environment and Jobs

Paul Krugman has a NY Times column arguing, from a Keynesian point of view, that Obama’s climate change program won’t cost jobs.  One of my  posts a couple of years ago suggested the same idea: in a slack economy, regulatory requirements are a form of stimulus that can actually create jobs because industry has to spend …

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