Politics
Battle for the Senate: Nevada
A tight race with sharply contrasting candidates. Want to gamble on the outcome?
The two major party candidates in the Nevada race agree on the desirability of renewable power, but that’s about all they agree on. Joe Heck, a Republican doctor with extensive military experience, favors streamlined permitting for renewable project on federal lands and wants state governments to get a share of the benefits. But he also …
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CONTINUE READINGReproductive Rights Meet . . . Waste Disposal Law?
Texas aims to limit abortion via environmental regulation
All know that by a 5-3 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court in June struck down as “undue burdens” on the exercise of reproductive rights the State of Texas’s 2013 restrictions on abortion facilities. Those rules required facilities to meet illogical physical premises requirements and to have physicians with local hospital admitting privileges – privileges the …
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CONTINUE READINGWhy Doesn’t the GOP Offer Alternative Solutions to Environmental Problems?
Republicans hate conventional regulations. But they’ve given up on offering alternatives. Here’s why.
There’s one thing we all know: the Republican Party hates regulation. Republicans want to roll back some key regulations and make it a lot harder to pass new ones. But there’s a curious silence about alternatives to regulation. For decades, conservative Republicans have denounced “command and control” regulations by EPA and other agencies. So why don’t they …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Clean Power Plan: Obama’s Easy Mandate
States Complaining About the CPP Are On Pace to Hit Emissions Targets
Back around the turn of the 20th century, New York’s Republican machine was run by Senator Thomas Platt, whose ability to bridge factional gaps gave him the title of “The Easy Boss.” Even though President Obama has attempted the same thing, he will have no such luck. Witness, for example, the states — virtually all …
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CONTINUE READINGBattle for the Senate: New Hampshire
Almost uniquely, both candidates support action on climate change.
Kelly Ayotte’s rating from the League of Conservation voters is 35%. That’s on the high side for a Republican. Her opponent, Maggie Hasan, is a strong advocate of action on climate change. Ayotte is a former prosecutor and long-time state attorney general; she says that as AG she “stood up to polluters to protect New …
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CONTINUE READINGBattle for the Senate: Pennsylvania
Toomey & McGinty have *totally* opposite views on environment and energy.
The Pennsylvania Senate race pits a former president of the conservative Club for Growth against a former chair of CEQ, the White House Council on Environmental Quality. They may both love the color green, but his shade of green is the color of money and hers is the color of foliage. The Republican incumbent is …
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CONTINUE READINGA Presidential Game of 20 Questions
Reviewing the candidates answers to Scientific American’s top science policy questions
Yesterday, Scientific American released the answers provided by all four candidates for President to the 20 questions they consider the most pressing when it comes to science policy. The answers are illuminating, to say the least. First, on climate change, the answers of top candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump could not have been more …
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CONTINUE READINGWill We Get a Ninth Supreme Court Justice?
Not if Clinton Wins the President and the GOP Maintains Control of the Senate
Dan’s march through the Senate, and his fine post today on Wisconsin, might even be more significant than says. He writes: A President Trump with a Republican Senate could do a lot to carry through on his pledge to dismantle EPA’s powers, whereas a President Clinton would receive valuable support from a Democratic Senate. If …
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CONTINUE READINGBattle For the Senate: Wisconsin
The candidates’ views on energy and environment are diametrically opposed.
Wisconsin is first up in a series of posts on key Senate races. My goal is to describe the candidates’ views on key policy issues, not to make a case for either side. The Wisconsin race is a rematch between the incumbent Ron Johnson and the previous incumbent, Russ Feingold, whom he had defeated in …
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CONTINUE READINGGary Johnson’s Hasty Retreat
He was for a carbon tax. For a few days. Until he was against it.
I posted a few weeks about Gary Johnson’s embrace of a carbon fee, which seemed like an appealing sign of new ideas. Apparently, however, stale ideas are more politically salable. As it turns out, under pressure from horrified conservatives, Johnson waved the white flag and surrendered only a few days later. Here’s his explanation: “If …
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