Regulation
The FDA Bans BPA in Baby Bottles
The details are reported here. Such bans on specific production inputs raise interesting economics issues related to “technology forcing” and industrial competition. I am an optimist that there are many different ways to make a relatively low cost baby bottle. In a a world with 7 billion people, if somebody can figure out a low …
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CONTINUE READINGHigh Speed Rail’s A-Coming to California
With the California Legislature’s recent approval of the sale of voter-approved state bonds to fund high speed rail, it looks like the bullet train is actually coming to the state. Since voters approved the bonds in 2008, the economy has collapsed, and the details of the proposed route has made enemies out of many communities …
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CONTINUE READINGClimate Strategies: “One Step at a Time” or “Don’t Jump the Gun”??
In some situations, voluntary efforts leads other people to join in, whereas in others, it encourages them to hold back. There’s a similar issue about climate mitigation efforts at the national, regional, or state level. Do these efforts really move the ball forward? Or are they counterproductive, because other places increase their own carbon emissions …
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CONTINUE READINGAssessing California’s cap-and-trade design
How vulnerable will California’s cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gas emissions be to market manipulation, noncompliance, and fraud? Will the program’s public auctions of allowances serve a critical regulatory purpose, or are they just a big money grab? With about four months to go before the highly anticipated first auction, these questions are important and getting …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Romney Website’s Circular Blame Game
The Romney website portrays regulation as a huge drag on the economy. But it can’t decide who’s to blame. Is it all Obama’s fault? Or not just Obama, but a whole succession of Presidents, many of them presumably Republicans? Or is it bureaucrats who have overpowered all of these Presidents? The website goes around in …
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CONTINUE READINGIs Duke Energy Playing the Regulation Game?
Just a few hours prior to the July Fourth holiday, the New York Times reported that Duke Energy Corporation announced a $32 billion merger with Progress Energy, creating the nation’s largest utility. It will serve more than 7 million customers throughout the southeast and midwest. Okay. But buried in the story was this nugget: In …
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CONTINUE READINGDid the Founding Fathers Believe in a Strong Federal Government? You Betcha.
The whole point of the Constitution was to give the federal government more power.
CONTINUE READINGC-Change.la and a Sea Change in Climate Change Communication
It has become increasingly clear that in order to address climate change effectively through carbon emissions reduction and adapting to new conditions, we will need new communication tools. Last week, I blogged about a new, groundbreaking climate impact study that projects the impacts of climate change on southern California’s communities at unprecedentedly high resolution. What …
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CONTINUE READINGDC Circuit’s Unanimous Decision to Uphold Greenhouse Gas Rules Across the Board Major Victory for EPA
As Dan just noted, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit — in a unanimous decision — handed the U.S. EPA a sweeping victory in upholding across the board four separate components of the agency’s rules to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. The opinion can be found here. A little background is in order …
CONTINUE READINGPutting a Cap on the Green Paradox
The Green Paradox holds that emission control measures scheduled for the future can backfire. Foreseeing a smaller market in the future, fossil fuel sellers decide to unload more of their reserves now by cutting prices. A recent report from Resources for the Future provides more details if you’re interested (though the details don’t matter for …
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