Energy
Still More About the Keystone XL Pipeline
I am opposed to the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. Nonetheless, I find myself somewhat in disagreement with my blogging neighbor Jonathan Zasloff on this one, and somewhat in agreement with Joe Nocera. Yes, as Nocera argues, as long as there is demand for oil, energy producers will keep looking for new supplies to …
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CONTINUE READINGWhy is Each Sequel Worse Than the Last?
Some movie franchises last way too long: Friday the 13th, Rocky, Nightmare on Elm Street. Each new film is worse than the last, and they’re all worse than the original, which wasn’t so great itself. The GOP war on energy=efficient light bulbs has the same characteristic — you wish someone would just drive a stake through …
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CONTINUE READINGSanders/Boxer carbon tax
Sens. Bernie Sanders and Barbara Boxer released today a pair of bills meant to increase the price of carbon in the United States. (Bill summary; carbon tax bill; fuel subsidies bill) The “Climate Protection Act of 2013” would impose a fee of $20 per ton (carbon or methane equivalent) on coal, petroleum, natural gas and …
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CONTINUE READINGThe State of the Union — Energy and Climate Change
A very lengthy discussion of energy– some good language on energy efficiency and renewables, some not-so-good language about oil, but with an overall emphasis on technological innovation. Here’s what the President said about climate change: And over the last four years, our emissions of the dangerous carbon pollution that threatens our planet have actually fallen. …
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CONTINUE READINGIs California Fracking Regulation Out of Focus?
I’ve long been skeptical of the push that some on the left have made to ban hydraulic fracturing of natural gas. From an environmental perspective, I’d much rather have a natural gas-based fuel mix than one based on coal, and in any event, if there is that much money in the ground, people are going …
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CONTINUE READINGPutting a Human Face on Hydraulic Fracturing
It is rare when new web content makes one want to sit back in an easy chair, study every image, and follow every word. Let me tell you about one offering that not only delivers that kind of quality, but focuses on one of the critical environmental and social issues currently facing the country. The …
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CONTINUE READINGCellulosic Biofuel mandate for 2013
I mentioned the other day that the D.C. Circuit struck EPA’s cellulosic biofuel mandate for 2012. Today, the New York Times reported on EPA’s 2013 quota. EPA has proposed to raise the mandate to 14 million (ethanol-equivalent) gallons for 2013. EPA explicitly stated that it believes its 2013 proposal “is consistent with” the D.C. Circuit …
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CONTINUE READINGEnvironmental Law and Policy Events for Couch Potatoes
UC Berkeley and UCLA School of Law’s joint Climate Change and Business Research Initiative has produced a number of public events featuring experts on pressing environmental law and policy issues. We now have on-line video recordings of many of them, for those of you who prefer not to leave the comfort of your home or …
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CONTINUE READINGD.C. Circuit’s biofuels mandate ruling
The D.C. Circuit issued an opinion last Friday in American Petroleum Institute v. EPA, concerning EPA’s biofuels mandate. (N.Y. Times; slip opinion). The part of the mandate at issue required refiners to incorporate higher levels of cellulosic fuel into transportation fuel. Cellulosic biofuel is in the class of “advanced biofuels” that could actually offset greenhouse gas …
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CONTINUE READINGSunstein on Climate Change
Should the U.S. take action on climate change prior to a global treaty? Eric Posner and Cass Sunstein argued against unilteral action in a well-known paper. The argument received more extensive discussion in a book by Eric Posner and David Weisbach (with Sunstein dropping out because of government service). I’ve argued (see this paper) that …
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