Climate Change
The Ironic History of Cap-and-Trade
The phrase “cap-and-trade” is relatively new, but the idea of marketable pollution allowances goes back several decades. Conventional pollution laws impose direct mandates on polluters, telling each polluter precisely what level of pollution control is required. For a variety of reasons, economists have always disapproved of this approach. They prefer pollution taxes (a/k/a effluent charges) …
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CONTINUE READINGEarth’s Climate: The Owner’s Manual
If you want an authoritative source on climate science, of course you could go to the IPCC Reports. That assumes, of course, that you’re willing to plow through hundreds and hundreds of pages of detailed information. Now, there’s a good alternative. The Climate Crisis is a clear, accessible introduction to everything we know about the …
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CONTINUE READINGGM Kills the Hummer
Yippee!! The environmental benefits of this move are clear, but it will also make the roads safer. Next up, SUVs? We can hope.
CONTINUE READINGProperty Rules, Liability Rules, Patents, and Climate Change
I suggested a few weeks ago that India and the United States might try foster climate cooperation by having India agree to use climate-friendly technology and the United States asgree not to pursue any legal actions under the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property treaty. But of course there is a catch: at some point inventors …
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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 READINGAB 32 Opposition and Truth in Advertising
While some politicians have called publicly for the suspension of AB 32 until the economy recovers (see here and here for details), a more behind-the-scenes effort to undercut the implementation of California’s global warming bill is also taking place. The AB 32 Implementation Group (“IG”) says it “represents large and small business that are vital to …
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CONTINUE READINGNew Approaches to Analyzing Uncertainty
New analytic methods are emerging for dealing with tough problems that are not amenable to conventional risk analysis. These techniques also shed light on the precautionary principle.
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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CONTINUE READINGTracking U.S. Climate Change Litigation
The most famous case about climate change is Massachusetts v. EPA, which led to a key decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. But there have been dozens of other lawsuits, and more are coming all the time. Fortunately, there’s a handy on-line resource for tracking all these cases. It’s worth taking a look at.
CONTINUE READINGWhite House Draft Guidance on Climate Change and Environmental Impact Statements
The Council on Environmental Quality has issued a draft guidance to agencies on treatment of greenhouse gases. The key point is that emissions exceeding 25,000 tons per year of CO2 will be considered a “significant environmental impact” and require preparation of an environmental impact statement. Overall, of course, this is a huge step forward. One …
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