Energy

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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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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No Keystone XL If It Would Increase Greenhouse Gas Emissions?

In his much-anticipated speech on climate policy, President Obama made an important statement about the approval process for the controversial Keystone XL pipeline project. He said that the project should not be approved if it would if it would “significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution.”  One question that this raises is whether the same …

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Lots of Rhetoric, Not Much New in Obama’s Climate Plan

The Obama Administration just released a “Climate Action Plan” to accompany the speech the President will give this morning at Georgetown University.  I applaud the President for delivering a speech devoted exclusively to climate change.  But for all the hooplah surrounding the President’s speech as “major,”  the measures he’s proposed in the new plan  to …

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Regulators Between a Rock and a Hard Place: The Extraterritorial Dilemma

Current dormant commerce clause doctrine creates an incredible dilemma for state lawmakers. No matter what they do, they are at serious risk of attack under the dormant commerce clause. Here’s an example. Suppose a state wants to move its own electricity generators from fossil fuels to renewable energy. For instance, the state might require that …

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Constitutional Issues in Cap and Trade: New Light from an Unexpected Source

At the end of April, the Supreme Court decided an obscure case called McBurney v. Young about state public records law.  Quite unexpectedly, the court’s opinion turns out to be good news for state environmental regulators.  In particular, it clarifies how cap and trade relates to what lawyers call the dormant commerce clause — a …

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Quality of Life Dynamics in Rural Renewable Power Communities

A journal called Energy Policy will soon publish my paper titled; Local Non-Market Quality of Life Dynamics in New Wind Farm Communities.   We know that renewable power generation (both solar panels and wind turbines) requires land.  It wouldn’t be efficient to transform Beverly Hills into wind farms even if it was a windy place.  Thus, …

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Court Doesn’t Cast Much Doubt on the Constitutionality of Michigan’s Renewable Portfolio Standard

Thanks to Ann Carlson for pointing out the significant decision recently issued by 7th Circuit Court of Appeals related to allocating the cost for new electric transmission lines and for so concisely describing its complicated fact pattern. But I have to respectfully disagree with Ann’s suggestion that this decision has cast any meaningful doubt on …

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Court Casts Doubt on Constitutionality of Michigan’s Renewable Portfolio Standard, Upholds Cost Sharing for Transmission Lines

In an important victory for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) — and in my view for renewable energy more generally — the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit has upheld a FERC order that helps finance transmission lines to carry renewable energy from rural areas to urban centers in the midwest and …

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