Politics
Corroding the Separation of Environmental Powers
“Who decides?” is the first question to ask about a policy issue. Trump’s answer is “me.”
Biden took actions that federal courts ruled exceeded statutory authority, raised separation of powers issues, or threatened federalism. The difference is that Trump has used brute-force attacks on agencies plus extortion against states rather than taking overt legal actions that courts can review.
CONTINUE READINGGet Caught Trying
Donald Trump is committing extortion against law firms: Indict him. Now.
Bill Clinton knows a thing or two about how politics works. He famously said that the American people might not always expect you to succeed, but that they will demand that you get caught trying. And when it comes to Donald Trump’s illegal war against law firms, it’s time to get caught trying. Colloquially, it’s …
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CONTINUE READINGLeft-Wing NIMBYism Strikes Out – Again
The Current Overheated Housing Market in Los Angeles Demonstrates That Market-Rate Housing Can Reduce Rents
One of the most pernicious aspects of the land use and housing debate over the last few years has been the rise of what we mean might call “left-wing NIMBYs.” It is essentially traditional NIMBYism but on allegedly progressive grounds. The principal argument of this group is that building more market-rate units will do nothing …
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CONTINUE READINGWhat is Life Like Inside Trump’s EPA?
Three EPA employees talk about DOGE, work anxiety, regulatory rollbacks, and the impact on protecting health and the environment.
The new head of the U.S. the Environmental Protection Agency — whose mission is to protect human health and the environment by developing and enforcing regulations — this week made what he proudly called the “largest deregulatory announcement in history” in the form of nearly three dozen policy reversals and “reconsiderations.” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin’s …
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CONTINUE READINGMake America’s Environment Filthy Again
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has launched a full-scale attack on climate, air and water pollution.
In what is one of the most mind-boggling press releases ever to come out of the Environmental Protection Agency, Administrator Lee Zeldin today declared that he wants to make America’s air and water dirty again and to make the planet still warmer. He announced 31 actions that will obliterate protections for cleaner air, cleaner water, …
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CONTINUE READINGMaking Polluters Pay for Climate Consequences
A pair of new bills introduced in the California State Legislature would create a climate superfund. Here’s how it would work.
The dramatic increase in extreme weather events has been wreaking havoc on states across the country, from devastating fires, floods, and droughts to rising sea levels. As a member of the Board for the American Red Cross Pacific Coast Region, I have seen firsthand how the organization is responding to twice as many climate-related disasters …
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CONTINUE READINGNew State Bill Targets Pollution from Aggregate Facilities
Guest contributors Mayahuel Hernandez and Ian Bertrando explain the air-quality benefits of SB 526, a bill they worked on with California State Sen. Caroline Menjivar.
The California Senate just took a critical step toward confronting unhealthy air quality in environmental justice communities through the introduction of a new Senate Bill 526. This proposed legislation aims to curb dangerous dust emissions from aggregate facilities in the South Coast Air Basin, where industrial pollution has long threatened public health and the environment. …
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CONTINUE READINGThe California Car Waiver and the Congressional Review Act
Trump has found a possible way to end run California’s legal arguments for the waiver. But there’s no reason to give up.
If the CRA resolution does go through, California should wait until after the midterms, when Democrats are favored to take the House, and then try again with different formulated regulations. When the Trump Administration rejects them, it could then litigate whether the new versions were “substantially the same” as the old ones.
CONTINUE READINGThe Trump Administration Is Trying an End Run Around Revoking California’s Car and Truck Rules
Zeldin’s actions face a major problem: the Congressional Review Act doesn’t apply to California waivers.
Last Friday, EPA’s Administrator Lee Zeldin announced a new and unprecedented way to try to prevent California from implementing its ambitious program to move toward 100 percent zero emission vehicles. This time around, the Trump Administration is trying a new tactic. Rather than revoking EPA’s decision (called a waiver) to allow California’s program to move …
CONTINUE READINGAll the President’s Men
The people occupying environment and energy positions will be anti-regulatory and pro-fossil fuel.
There will be a lot of dramatic fireworks on Day One of Trump’s second term, literally and figuratively. Yet his ability to achieve his agenda will depend on the people he’s chosen to run the government. His energy and environment picks will follow the party line of expanding fossil fuels. Yet they may not be as extremist as their predecessors in the first Trump Administration or as some of Trump’s advisors.
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