Climate Change
Climate is a Security Issue
The National Research Council (NRC) has recently released a study called Climate and Social Stress: Implications for Security Analysis. The security implications of climate change have been discussed in other, similar studies in the past, and this one is largely consistent with what has come before. The central message is that the changing climate will …
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CONTINUE READINGCap-and-Trade: Why Auctions are Better than Give-Aways
Earlier this week California began auctioning off greenhouse gas emissions allowances, and the sky has not fallen. But is an auction really the best way to distribute the allowances? The California Chamber of Commerce says no. Its lawsuit—discussed in recent posts by Ann, Rhead, and Sean—doesn’t challenge the State’s authority to limit greenhouse gas emissions, …
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CONTINUE READINGWhat happens if not all allowances are sold at the first cap-and-trade auction?
California held its first cap-and-trade auction for greenhouse gas (GHG) allowances yesterday. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) will announce the results from that auction on Monday, Nov. 19. What happens if not all the allowances are purchased at the auction? The short answer is that unsold allowances will be withheld from the market and …
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CONTINUE READINGWhy California’s cap-and-trade auction is not a tax
Yesterday, Ann and Cara gave their initial reactions to the California Chamber of Commerce lawsuit against California’s cap-and-trade auction. The main thrust of that lawsuit is that the auction (that happens today) is an unconstitutional tax because, according to the lawsuit, AB 32 gave the California Air Resources Board (CARB) no authority to withhold and …
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CONTINUE READINGWhy Was the Lawsuit Challenging California’s Cap-and-Trade Auction Filed Just One Day Before the Auction?
As Ann posted earlier today, the California Chamber of Commerce has filed a petition for writ of mandate in a California superior court, alleging that the auction of allowances to emit carbon dioxide scheduled for tomorrow constitutes an illegal tax and is not authorized by the California law AB 32. AB 32 requires the state …
CONTINUE READINGBreaking News: California Chamber of Commerce Sues over AB 32 Auction
The California Chamber of Commerce has launched the first industry lawsuit against the auction portion of California’s cap-and-trade program on the basis that auctioning off allowances constitutes an unauthorized, unconstitutional tax. The complaint was filed today in Sacramento Superior Court and seeks to stop the auction and have the auction regulations declared invalid. The Chamber argues …
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CONTINUE READINGWhat Do You Do With a Supermajority? Be Very Careful!
As Cara observes, California Democrats seem to have achieved the unachievable in Sacramento — a 2/3 majority, allowing them to raise taxes without permission of the GOP. It’s not quite there, because a couple of state Senators were elected to Congress, and as soon as they take their seats, special elections will need to be …
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CONTINUE READINGMaking Climate Policy While Congress Sleeps
In our system of government, Congress is the institution with the greatest power to address issues of national importance. Unfortunately, Congress has been AWOL on the issue of climate change. The election has made it marginally more likely that Congress might wake up and take action on climate change, possibly even including a carbon tax …
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CONTINUE READINGClimate Change May Be More Severe Than Previously Expected
The Washington Post reports on a new study with grim implications about climate change. The study suggests that temperature increases by the end of the century will be at the upper end of predictions — 8°F. (Keep in mind that this is the global average — the change will be lower over the oceans but …
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CONTINUE READINGNate Silver Denialism & Climate Change Denialism
It’s perhaps unsurprising that some of the same people that deny the overwhelming data on climate change also happened to deny the overwhelming data presented by Nate Silver of the New York Times about the likely outcome of the election yesterday. Silver, the sports-statistician-turned-poll-analyzer, used aggregate poll data and analysis to show that Obama had …
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