Regulation
Guest Blogger Ken Alex: Climate Science and Public Belief
Ken Alex is a Senior Advisor to Governor Jerry Brown and the Director of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research. The views expressed in this blog post are his own. In the book Collapse, Professor Jared Diamond asks, why do societies destroy themselves through disastrous decisions, even after they perceive the problem? Why, for …
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CONTINUE READINGGuest Blogger Ken Alex: California’s Road to 2020 and Beyond
Ken Alex is a Senior Advisor to Governor Jerry Brown and the Director of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research. The views expressed in this blog post are his own. Four years ago, when I was the head of the Attorney General’s environment section, I wrote a series of guest blogs for Legal Planet …
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CONTINUE READINGIs the Golden State Warriors’ Proposed Basketball Arena a Proper Public Trust Use?
The Bay Area’s NBA franchise, the Golden State Warriors, is collaborating with San Francisco city officials to develop a new, state-of-the-art basketball arena on a site that literally sits atop San Francisco Bay. Few would argue that the region’s basketball team–a perennial second-division NBA franchise until it surged into contention last season–needs a new arena. …
CONTINUE READINGThe Retrospective Greening of Bill Clinton
Last week, the EPA building was renamed for Bill Clinton. This a bit ironic — not that he was anti-environmental, but the environment wasn’t exactly his top priority. As you may recall, Clinton’s guiding philosophy was expressed by the motto, “It’s the economy, stupid.” There’s no reason to think he has any particular passion about …
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CONTINUE READINGNinth Circuit Rejects Water Agency’s “Area of Origin” Water Rights Claim
Responding to the current drought conditions confronting California, state and federal water project officials have announced cutbacks in anticipated water deliveries this summer and fall from both the Central Valley Project (CVP) and State Water Project. It’s with that sobering backdrop that a recent decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit …
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CONTINUE READINGWhy Hide the Congressional Research Service’s Reports from the Public?
Q: Is there anything connected with Congress that actually works these days? A: Yes, the Congressional Research Service and the General Accounting Office. A key difference between these adjuncts to Congress, however, relates to public accessibility. The Congressional Research Service can be a really valuable resource, but their reports can be difficult to locate. Unlike …
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CONTINUE READINGEPA and the Social Cost of Carbon: Part II
This is Part II of a two-part series of posts discussing Eric Posner’s critiques of the role of cost-benefit analysis in climate regulation. In Part I of this post series, Rhead described the social cost of carbon concept, discussed the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) recently updated social cost of carbon estimate of $38 …
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CONTINUE READINGEPA and the social cost of carbon
This is Part I of a two-part series of posts discussing Eric Posner’s critiques of the role of cost-benefit analysis in climate regulation. The social cost of carbon (SCC, for policy wonks) represents the cost, in today’s dollars for the harm of emitting a ton of carbon dioxide equivalent gas into the atmosphere. Recently, the …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Long, Slow Path to Improved Air Quality Standards
The regulatory process can be slow and tortuous. Consider the case of air quality standards. Since 1997, EPA has had separate air quality standards for fine particulates, technically called PM2.5. These tiny particles can penetrate deep into the lungs, making them a special public health concern. EPA has revisited the standard twice, in 2006 and …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Strange World of the Small Business Administration
When you say “small business,” most people probably imagine a mom-and-pop corner grocery. Actually, the SBA’s concept of small goes well beyond that. For instance, it includes a computer business that does up to $25 million per year in business. A convenience store can do $27 million and still be considered “small,” while a grocery …
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