Politics
Clinton v. Sanders: Their Climate Plans in a Nutshell
Sanders wants a carbon tax. No surprise: Clinton is more incremental.
Sanders and Clinton have much richer discussions of issues on their website than their Republican rivals, perhaps reflecting different expectations for candidates in the two parties. Both Sander and Clinton have environmental views that are starkly different from the leading Republican candidates. But their views do differ from each other as well. Clinton has about …
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CONTINUE READINGDeep in the Heart of Texas
Some green patches in one of the reddest of the Red States.
The Texas AG’s office seems to do little else besides battle against EPA, and Texas Senator Ted Cruz is in the vanguard of anti-environmentalism. Yet even in Texas there are some rays of hope. While Texas is attacking the Clean Power Plan, the city of Houston is leading a coalition of cities defending it. Other …
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CONTINUE READINGLabor Mobility and Environmental Regulation
Net job loss is small, but the effects of regulation might leave some workers stranded.
Regulators should give some thought to issues of labor mobility, which may be smaller than economists have assumed. Recent studies show that people who lost manufacturing jobs due to competition from China often failed to get new jobs in other places or sectors of the economy. Regulation can also cause some individual to lose their …
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CONTINUE READINGA Sea Change in Climate Politics
Something strange has happened in Florida: Rising seas have changed GOP views.
There was a surprise question about climate change at the last Republican debate. What was surprising wasn’t the question itself. Instead, it was the source of the question: Tomás Regalado, the Republican mayor of Miami. It turns out that this wasn’t a fluke. Regalado and the Republican mayor of Miami Beach have spoken out in an …
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CONTINUE READINGTrump vs. EPA
To combat the anti-environmentalism of his base, we need to stress public health issues.
Donald Trump wants to abolish EPA and leave environmental regulation to the states. Given that many environmental problems cross state lines, it’s not clear how he thinks this would work. But never mind that. A more immediate problems is understanding why this position may appeal to his core voters. For candidates like Cruz, it’s not hard …
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CONTINUE READINGSan Jose’s Inclusionary Housing Ordinance Dodges Supreme Court Bullet
Justices Deny Review of California Supreme Court Decision Upholding San Jose Measure
Advocates of the City of San Jose’s controversial inclusionary housing ordinance, which was upheld in a 2015 California Supreme Court decision, are breathing a sigh of relief this week. That’s because the U.S. Supreme Court has denied the California Building Industry Association’s petition for certiorari in the case. But the available evidence suggests that the High Court …
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CONTINUE READINGRisk Subsidies and the Future of Nuclear Power in the U.S.
Should We Take Into Account Government Subsidies that Reduce the Risks Borne by the Nuclear Industry as We Consider Our Energy Future?
As I’ve written about before, U.S. law massively subsidizes the nuclear power industry. In particular, a law called the Price-Anderson Nuclear Industries Indemnity Act dramatically skews the incentives to develop nuclear plants, and to site them in places where there is a lot of risk, because it requires the public to bear much of the …
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CONTINUE READINGNevada Governor Sandoval on Obama’s Short List of Supreme Court Candidates
How Would a Justice Sandoval Vote on Environmental Issues?
Multiple news sources reported Wednesday that the Obama Administration has floated the first identified candidate the President is considering nominating to the U.S. Supreme Court to replace Justice Antonin Scalia, who died unexpectedly earlier this month. That candidate is a most intriguing and unconventional one: Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval–a Republican. Sandoval, 52, received his law …
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CONTINUE READINGMitch McConnell’s “War on Coal Miners”
McConnell seems to care more about political payback than the miners’ welfare.
Mitch McConnell’s website trumpets that last fall he received an award from the Washington Coal Club “for his work to defend Kentucky’s coal jobs, miners and their families.” His concern for miners turns out not to be so deep. As the Washington Post reported last week, he single-handedly blocked a measure to rescue health and pension benefits …
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CONTINUE READINGReflections on the Coastal Commission’s Implosion
The Implications of the Decision to Fire Charles Lester – and the Decision Not to Explain It
As Rick Frank insightfully discussed earlier this week, the California Coastal Commission has fired its former executive director, Charles Lester. Readers interested in more background information and analysis should read Rick’s post, as well as the excellent reporting by Tony Barboza and others from the LA Times. (And anyone who wants to hear about it …
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