Regulation
Nanopolicy Bumps in California
California continues to lead the way nationally on nanotechnology regulation, despite some bumps along the way. Most recently, the Department of Toxic Substances Control issued a request for information regarding analytical test methods, fate and transport in the environment, and other relevant information from manufacturers of reactive nanometal oxides. Substances covered include aluminum oxide, silicon …
Continue reading “Nanopolicy Bumps in California”
CONTINUE READINGClimate Change and Environmental Impact Statements
Government agencies are struggling with how to fit climate change into the process of environmental review. At one level, this is a no-brainer. Greenhouse gases contribute to climate change, and climate change is the biggest environmental impact of all. But as always, the devil is in the details.
CONTINUE READINGOh What A Difference A President Makes
We’re not even 85 days into the Obama Administration and yet the signs of environmental change are all around us. The EPA announced today its formal determination under the Clean Air Act that greenhouse gases are pollutants that endanger public health and welfare. This is only the latest in a string of announcements that show just how quickly Obama is …
Continue reading “Oh What A Difference A President Makes”
CONTINUE READINGLow-hanging carbon
I’m looking forward to hearing Scripps climate scientist Veerabhadran Ramanathan speak at an event next week in Los Angeles, and I hope he’ll talk about black carbon, which many are calling the low-hanging fruit of the climate change problem. Black carbon is the fine black soot that’s generated by carbon combustion, these days mostly from traditional cookstoves and …
Continue reading “Low-hanging carbon”
CONTINUE READINGThe (Environmental) Wealth of Nations
Costa Rica is taking seriously the idea that national wealth does not solely consist of physical or financial assets but also of environmental goods and natural resources. As Thomas Friedman explained in yesterday’s column: “More than any nation I’ve ever visited, Costa Rica is insisting that economic growth and environmentalism work together. It has created …
Continue reading “The (Environmental) Wealth of Nations”
CONTINUE READINGNEPA and terrorism
To what extent does the Nuclear Regulatory Commission have to consider the threat of terrorist attack in the environmental analysis it undertakes for nuclear power plant licensing decisions? A March 31 decision from the Third Circuit, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection v. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, creates a circuit split on that question. In the …
Continue reading “NEPA and terrorism”
CONTINUE READINGCustomer Impacts From Waxman’s Cap & Trade? Let’s Not Exaggerate
In Wednesday’s New York Times, Felicia Barringer reports on pocketbook concerns related to the Waxman-Markey carbon cap and trade proposal as expressed by parishioners at St. Louis’ Greater Mount Carmel Baptist Church. The article contains the following statement, attributed to a representative from the local electric utility: “Jaime Haro, Ameren UE’s director of asset management …
Continue reading “Customer Impacts From Waxman’s Cap & Trade? Let’s Not Exaggerate”
CONTINUE READINGCleaning Up the Bush EPA’s Dry Cleaning Rule
The Washington Post reported that EPA “is reconsidering whether to compel dry cleaners to phase out a cancer-causing chemical used in tens of thousands of operations nationwide.” In 2006, the Bush Administration issued an air toxics rule for professional dry cleaners using perchloroethylene in which it tightened technology requirements, but refused to phase out use …
Continue reading “Cleaning Up the Bush EPA’s Dry Cleaning Rule”
CONTINUE READINGThe Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009–A Macro and Micro View
I’d like to follow up on Sean Hecht’s recent posting concerning Congressional passage and President Obama’s signing into law of the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009. This massive bill designates two million acres of wilderness in nine states as permanently off-limits to development, and increases the number of river miles protected under the …
Continue reading “The Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009–A Macro and Micro View”
CONTINUE READINGWaxman bill on state cap-and-trade efforts
I’ve been reading the Waxman-Markey energy and climate discussion draft released earlier in the week (and blogged about by Rick here). One thing I’m puzzling over is the draft’s treatment of state cap and trade regulations. As many have noted, the question of which state climate efforts are saved and which are preempted is an …
Continue reading “Waxman bill on state cap-and-trade efforts”
CONTINUE READINGJoin Our Mailing List
Climate policy is changing rapidly. Stay in the loop with expert analysis via email Monday - Friday.
