Energy
Another information gap in the Gulf
As the Washington Post points out today, BP’s Regional Oil Spill Response Plan (large file) for the Gulf of Mexico was, like the NEPA analysis and the ESA analysis, wildly over-optimistic. The Response Plan is more realistic than the NEPA documents with respect to the possibilities. It does include worst case scenarios (Appendix H). The …
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CONTINUE READINGOffshore drilling and endangered species — Part 2
Cross-posted at CPRBlog. Yesterday I wrote about the shortcomings of ESA consultation on the Deepwater Horizon and other offshore oil rigs. Today I take up the implications of the spill itself under the ESA. At least one ESA lawsuit has already been filed, and at least partially resolved. The Animal Welfare Institute, Center for Biological …
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CONTINUE READINGOffshore drilling and endangered species — Part 1
Cross-posted at CPRBlog The media have paid a lot of attention to the cavalier attitude of the former Minerals Management Service (now called the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement) toward the National Environmental Policy Act (I blogged about it here and here and Dan weighed in here). Less has been said, so …
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CONTINUE READINGClimate Kabuki in New Delhi — the Shock of Recognition
India’s Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh announced Monday that New Delhi will take the lead on establishing a global carbon budget at the Cancun climate talks. I think that this is good news, but probably not for the reasons we might initially suspect. We might think that it’s good news because it shows that India is taking …
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CONTINUE READINGAdministration delays next step on offshore drilling plan
Finally, some news about offshore oil drilling that contains no nasty surprises. The Obama administration has announced that it will delay public meetings on the plan for expanded offshore drilling it unveiled shortly before the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The planned “scoping” meetings, which had originally been announced for June or July in Alaska, the south …
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CONTINUE READINGHow Green is High-Speed Rail?
Life cycle costs can be a buzz kill. Just when you think you’ve got a great environmental solution, such as going paperless and doing everything digitally, or installing double-paned windows to make a home more energy efficient, you find out that manufacturing these supposedly environmentally-friendly technologies can create waste that offsets some of their “green” …
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CONTINUE READINGCarly Fiorina and the Environment
Carly Fiorina’s website devotes considerable attention to energy and environment. Here are the high points: She opposes cap-and-trade, which she says (based on a Heritage Foundation study) would cost each American family $2700/yr. She favors improvements in energy efficiency and “development of all domestic forms of energy, including nuclear, solar, wind and clean coal, and …
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CONTINUE READINGMayor Villaraigosa, This is NOT How You Do Environmental Policy
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa likes to talk green at every opportunity, but most of his environmental initiatives fall flat due to lack of follow-through (no one has ever accused him of too long of an attention span), his own political incentives, or both. He pushed a charter amendment to mandate the development of solar power for the …
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CONTINUE READINGNews Flash: Richard Lazarus to be Executive Director of Deepwater Horizon Team
DOE has announced: The co-chairs of the bipartisan National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling have selected a highly regarded Georgetown University law professor to serve as the commission’s executive director. Richard Lazarus, the Justice William J. Brennan, Jr., Professor of Law at Georgetown, will lead the staff of the …
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CONTINUE READINGEconomy v. Environment Directly at Issue in Lifting of Drilling Ban
As oil continues to gush into the gulf — more bad news on that front today — a federal judge with financial ties to the oil drilling industry has issued an injunction lifting the federal government’s moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf. The legal intricacies of the lifting of the ban, while interesting to …
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