Politics
Jon Cannon To Be EPA Deputy Administrator
President Obama has nominated Jon Cannon, Professor of Law at University of Virginia, to be the EPA’s new Deputy Administrator, subject to Senate confirmation. Cannon has extensive experience in the federal government, including three years as the EPA’s General Counsel from 1995-98. In my view he’s a great appointment. His background gives him enormous experience, …
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CONTINUE READINGUCLA Working Conference on Nanotechnology Policy
The2009WorkingConferenceonNanotechRegulatoryPolicywillbeheldattheUniversityofCalifornia,LosAngelescampusonApril17. TheConferencewillbringtogetheraninterdisciplinarygroupofscholarsandresearchers,policymakers,non-governmentalorganizations,andbusinessesforaction-orientedworkshoppanelsonthescienceandpolicyofnanotechnology. ThegoaloftheConferenceistocriticallyevaluateseveralspecificpolicyproposalsforrespondingtothepotentialpublichealthandenvironmentalimpactsofnanotechnology. TheConferencewillexaminethreecategoriesofpolicyresponsesthroughseveralpanels: ∙ Relianceonexistingregulatoryprograms ∙ Developmentofinnovative“nano-specific”regulatoryprograms ∙ Relianceupon“private”regulation(e.g.,industryinitiatives,insurancemechanisms,etc.) ThepolicyproposalswillbesetoutinaseriesofsuccinctpaperscommissionedbytheConferencesponsorsanddistributedtoallparticipantsinadvanceoftheConference. ThesepaperswillbepublishedintheUCLAJournalofEnvironmentalLawandPolicy. Registration is availableonline. Visit the website at http://www.cnsi.ucla.edu/NanoRegulatoryPolicy/
CONTINUE READINGPresident Obama’s Remarks on Energy Tonight
“It begins with energy. “We know the country that harnesses the power of clean, renewable energy will lead the 21st century. And yet it is China that has launched the largest effort in history to make their economy energy efficient. We invented solar technology, but we’ve fallen behind countries like Germany and Japan in producing …
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CONTINUE READINGIs Ray LaHood Trying to Subsidize Gas Guzzlers?
We finally see Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood (R-IL) emerge from his undisclosed location, and the result isn’t pretty: Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says he wants to consider taxing motorists based on how many miles they drive rather than how much gasoline they burn _ an idea that has angered drivers in some states where it …
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CONTINUE READINGMary Nichols gets mad
Amid the general relief that California’s legislature has finally passed a budget, our state’s (and nation’s?) chief air & climate conscience makes some serious objections: California’s proposed budget contains a major provision that would weaken air pollution regulations while saving the construction industry millions of dollars. The measure, largely overlooked in a public debate focused on …
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CONTINUE READINGObama on Transportation, Land Use and Energy Use
Stunning news from the White House: we actually have a US president who understands the connection between land use patterns and energy use. Obama’s stimulus bill was weak on spending for transit projects (as opposed to highway projects). But that was because it was a bill about jobs, and more highway projects just happened to …
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CONTINUE READINGA Tale of Two Cities
The old adage is that all politics is local. So is much, if not all, environmental policy-making. Recent reports from two American cities vividly demonstrate the wide gulf that often separates local efforts to adopt sustainable environmental and energy policies. A recent story in the Wall Street Journal reports the City of Boulder, Colorado’s groundbreaking …
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CONTINUE READINGStatistician contests George Will’s misguided climate op-ed
Nate Silver, the statistician who blogs at fivethirtyeight.com and made national news (and the Colbert Report) last year by being the most accurate and reliable predictor of the presidential election results, has turned his attention to climate change. In response to an op-ed yesterday by George Will in the Washington Post, Silver analyzes temperature trends and debunks the …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Commerce shuffle
Does anyone want to be Secretary of Commerce? First Bill Richardson stepped aside under a cloud. Today, nominee #2 Judd Gregg (about whom Cymie and I blogged earlier) withdrew his name, saying he disagreed too strongly with President Obama to take the position. Still, fans of the Department’s environmental arm, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric …
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CONTINUE READINGDon’t Know Much Biology
As a famous biologist once said, “without evolution nothing in biology makes sense.” And biological science is obviously basic to a lot of environmental policy. Thus, it is dismaying to learn that only four out of ten Americans believe in evolution. Trying to understand environmental policy without believing in evolution is like trying to understand …
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