Politics
Making 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.
CONTINUE READINGWhat Happens If EPA Revokes the Endangerment Finding?
The action would mean full-blown warfare against all things climate.
We are likely to learn next week if the Trump Administration will eviscerate the most important climate regulations the Biden Administration issued over the last four years. Under Trump’s “Unleashing American Energy” Executive Order, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is supposed to recommend by February 19 whether to reverse the central basis for much of the …
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CONTINUE READINGWhy I Still ♥ IRA
Biden’s climate law has already had a dramatic impact.
With over a half-trillion dollars in clean tech investment to date, the Inflation Reduction Act has left an indelible mark on U.S. climate policy. It’s unlikely that Congress will vote to repeal the whole law, given massive investments in GOP congressional districts. But even if they did, there’s no undoing the investments already made.
CONTINUE READINGSurfing the Wave of Executive Orders
As an old song says, “Mama Miá, here we go again!”
One thing that no one can deny is that Trump is brilliant at political theater. People overlook the importance of that at their peril. But theater isn’t reality, and it remains to be seen how many of the grand gestures Trump made today will eventuate in law.Presidents love issuing executive orders. It’s easy to do, and many people will credit the president with major accomplishment. But really, as someone recently said, an executive order is “just a memo on fancy letterhead.”
CONTINUE READINGAre Climate Pledges on Life Support?
A Q&A with Catherine McKenna, who led the UN Secretary General’s High-Level Expert Group on Net-Zero Commitments of Non-State Entities.
Catherine McKenna knows firsthand how to persist in the face of pushback on climate policies. She was Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change during the first Trump Administration, and she led negotiations of that country’s first national climate plan over intense oil industry opposition. “The oil sands sector and the politicians they sponsor aren’t just greenwashing a product,” …
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CONTINUE READINGDOGE: A Dodgy Path to Deregulation
It’s supposed to be cost-saving, but the savings are trivial on the scale of the federal budget.
Musk and Ramaswami have said that their DOGE project will cut the federal budget by eliminating unnecessary regulations and cutting regulatory agencies. Putting aside what “unnecessary” means here, that’s not even going to be a downpayment on the kind of budget cuts they’re seeking. The numbers are pretty simple. Suppose they eliminated EPA entirely. That …
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