Regulation
Cap and trade: it’s never worked, so let’s try it on a massive scale
Why exactly do people believe that cap-and-trade is going to be effective in reducing greenhouse gas emissions? Let’s face it: cap and trade is a nice idea that simply doesn’t work in practice. The one success story that proponents have held up was the successful effort to control acid rain. However, that program involved a …
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CONTINUE READINGNational Conversation Starts on Public Health and Chemical Exposure
The CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry recently kicked off their National Conversation on Public Health and Chemical Exposure with a day-long meeting on June 26, 2009 in Washington, DC. The National Conversation is a stakeholder and public involvement initiative intended to develop an action agenda …
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CONTINUE READINGNAFTA gold mining opinion upholding California environmental regulation issued by arbitration tribunal
As I previously discussed in detail in this post, a NAFTA arbitration tribunal recently decided a closely-watched case in a way that will further environmental protection. The panel’s 355-page opinion in the Glamis Gold case has been made public: here it is. The panel decided in favor of California’s right to regulate in-state mining by foreign …
CONTINUE READINGArmy Corps finds environmental humor unfunny: Conan O’Brien and Los Angeles River navigability
As Holly has mentioned, last month, Conan O’Brien made humor out of the navigability of the Los Angeles River by attempting to canoe down it. Holly’s post describes the legal controversy over the “traditional navigable waters” determination for the L.A. River, an appeal of which is still pending. (I note that there’s a small …
CONTINUE READINGDebating the Economics of Climate Change
A blog with the great title of Greed, Green and Grains (by environmental economist Michael J. Roberts) reported an interesting national bureau of economic research debate on the economics of climate change. The debaters were Pindyck (MIT) and Weitzman (Harvard). It seems increasingly clear that the key factors driving economic conclusions are the treatment of …
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CONTINUE READINGClimate change breaking news: EPA grants California waiver to regulate GHG emissions from cars
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has taken an important step toward addressing climate change and improving our nation’s automobile fuel economy, by granting California and at least 14 other states a waiver allowing them to regulate automobile greenhouse gas emissions. This was not unexpected, given the recent passage of federal legislation with standards similar to …
CONTINUE READINGCool Cars For California
Those California environmental regulators: there they go again… This past week, California’s Air Resources Board adopted first-ever regulations requiring auto manufacturers to include sun-reflecting window glass for all cars and light trucks sold within the state. The new rules take effect in 2014. It turns out that conventional vehicle windows waste a lot of energy. …
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CONTINUE READINGThe costs and benefits of coal
It was widely reported earlier this week that outspoken NASA climate scientist James Hansen and 30 others were arrested at a West Virginia coal operation where they were protesting mountaintop removal mining. The protesters were met at the mine by several hundred counter-protesters, described by the Charleston Gazette as “miners and family members” defending their …
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CONTINUE READINGNew EPA air toxics report presents sobering assessment of cancer risk
A new U.S. EPA report released today presents a scary picture of our exposure to hazardous pollutants in our air. The National-Scale Air Toxics Assessment for 2002, which analyzed health data based on chronic exposure to air toxics for 124 pollutants for which those data are available. (The assessment’s name is potentially confusing; the report …
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CONTINUE READINGAn Invitation to Review the Supreme Court’s Environmental Record
This has been a blockbuster year in the U.S. Supreme Court for environmental law and policy. In the Term that concludes this month, the justices have decided five major environmental cases, involving many of the nation’s most important environmental laws. Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment (CLEE), one of the sponsors of …
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