Pollution & Health

Californians still support action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to new report

California, for better or worse, is still a bellwether state on many public policy issues.  Public opinion here matters, not just as a predictor of our state’s future political direction, but also nationally.  And California’s residents’ opinions about environmental issues are particularly important, given our state’s leadership on environmental issues.  Right now, there is a …

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EPA stands by endangerment finding

EPA today issued its response to the 10 petitions that have been filed asking it to reconsider its December 2009 determination that greenhouse gas emissions cause or contribute to air pollution that may reasonably be expected to endanger public health or welfare. To no one’s surprise, the agency is standing by its earlier finding. As …

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GOP Will Filibuster the PACE Bill, Unless…

A prediction: the Republicans will filibuster Mike Thompson’s bill concerning PACE once it gets to the Senate.  At this point, the Republicans (led by Senator Mitch McConnell, pictured right) are simply uninterested in principles or policy.  That’s particular true in the shadow of the upcoming midterms: stopping the bill will simply be another way to …

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Interior hits the pause button again

Cross-posted at CPRBlog. As he had promised, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar today issued a new decision memorandum suspending certain deepwater drilling operations. Today’s decision replaces the moratorium that the federal District Court in New Orleans enjoined on June 22, and which the Fifth Circuit declined to reinstate last week. As I made clear in my …

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Travel Is Broadening–2010 Edition

Having just returned from a trip to Northern Europe, a couple of experiences resonate with me that, I hope, are worthy of sharing here. The first relates to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, British Petroleum, and the distinct ways in which BP’s role and responsibility for the spill are viewed, depending on one’s geographical roots. …

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Environmental Property Rights (Part IV)

Environmental property rights, such as tradable permits, conservation trusts, and the public trust doctrine, can change the constitutional landscape of environmental law.

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FHFA strangles PACE clean energy financing program

Yesterday, the Federal Housing Finance Administration, the agency that regulates bankrupt mortgage insurers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, issued a letter effectively destroying the promising energy efficiency and renewable energy financing program called Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE). I blogged about Fannie and Freddie’s lender letters on the PACE program a few weeks ago. PACE …

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Environmental Property Rights: Part II

The previous post in this series introduced the idea of environmental property rights. There are a surprising number of EPRs.  A complete listing would include at least nine kinds of EPRs:  In addition to the public trust doctrine and tradable permits (which were discussed in the first part of the series), here are seven more: …

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Legislative response to the Deepwater Horizon disaster

What’s happening in Congress since the Deepwater Horizon tragedy and the gusher that followed? There have been a lot of hearings, and a lot of bills introduced. Several are moving ahead. One has become law, one has been passed by the full House, and two have been reported out of Senate committees. 1) Both houses …

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Disturbing Video of Oil Spill Effects on Whales and Dolphins

[youtube=] This video contains some of the most compelling and disturbing footage I’ve seen of the Gulf oil spill.  It demonstrates the vastness of the spread of oil; the effects on marine mammals including whales and dolphins; and the magnitude of the burning BP is doing to try to clean up the oil.  The video …

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