Regulatory Policy
Things to be Thankful For (2020 edition)
Trump has done his best to eliminate federal protection for the environment. But there have been many positive signs.
Nearly four years into the Trump Administration, we’re now accustomed to waking up every morning to learn about a new attack on the environment. It’s also been an awful year in terms of the pandemic. But there are some things to be thankful for. Here’s how I started a similar post in 2017, nearly a …
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CONTINUE READINGReinventing Cost-Benefit Analysis
If the goal is to give decision makers the tools to make better decision, a single-dimensional metric isn’t the way to go.
One key issue facing Biden on January 20 will be the role of the the White House regulatory czar. The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) is a tiny White House agency that is virtually unknown to the public. Yet it exercises outsized influence. OIRA is charged with screening all proposed government regulations using a strict …
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CONTINUE READINGSome of the Things Federal Agencies Can Do to Address Climate Change
Current federal law provides many ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, even without a friendly senate
As the likelihood grows that the United States will have a new president who will preside over a divided government, and various policy think tanks line up to offer suggestions for effective action on various important issues, it seems like the right time to shine a light once again on a series of reports issued …
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CONTINUE READINGClimate Policymaking in the Shadow of the Supreme Court
Amy Coney Barrett could shift how the Supreme Court approaches environmental regulations. Policymakers should prepare accordingly
By Ann Carlson, Amelia Keyes, Ben Harris and Dallas Burtraw (Cross-posted at Resources for The Future’s blog The confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to fill the seat left by the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has catapulted the Supreme Court back onto the front pages of newspapers around the country. Though press attention has focused on …
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CONTINUE READINGToxic Releases? Botched Drug Trials? — Not a Problem, in this Administration
The Trump Administration has essentially dropped enforcement of environmental laws and clinical trial requirements.
The easiest way to gut regulations is simply to stop enforcing them. That tried and true technique has been enthusiastically embraced by the Trump Administration. That’s been long suspected in terms of environmental law. Shockingly, the Administration has also mostly given up on enforcing the standards for conducting clinical drug trials. The breakdown in FDA …
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CONTINUE READINGShould a New Congress Use a Deeply Flawed Law to Cancel Trump’s Regulations?
The Congressional Review Act was Newt Gingrich’s brainchild. It should be repealed.
The Congressional Review Act (CRA), part of Newt Gingrich’s “Contract With America”, slumbered for many years in obscurity. Then, in 2017, Congress dusted it off and used it to kill fifteen Obama administration regulations. I’m not the first to ask whether there should be payback if the White House and Senate change hands. There are …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Kavanaugh Court and the Environment
A new appointment would make Justice Kavanaugh the swing voter. Here’s what that would mean for environmental law.
A new appointment by Trump would shift the Supreme Court well to the right, making Brett Kavanaugh the swing voter in many cases. Kavanaugh has clear views about the powers of agencies like EPA. With him as the swing voter, the main strategy used by Obama to make environmental progress would be off limits for …
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CONTINUE READINGRebuilding Environmental Protection
It will take years to fully recover from the damage of the Trump era. We will need some new ideas.
After almost four years of Trump, federal environmental protection is in about the same shape as Western Europe at the end of World War II, filled with bomb craters and destruction. If the election turns out in Biden’s favor, he will be faced with the task of rebuilding from the smoking ruins. Here are some …
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CONTINUE READINGGene Drives, Biodiversity Conservation, International Law, and Emerging Politics
My latest article is published by Global Environmental Politics
A set of new biotechnologies are being developed that will force many of us, especially those concerned about biodiversity loss, to re-examine how we understand the relationship between biotechnology and conservation. These are “gene drives,” which would be used to genetically modify, reduce, or eliminate populations of species. My paper “Governing New Biotechnologies for Biodiversity …
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CONTINUE READINGEnforcing NEPA’s Forgotten Mandate
The courts have failed to enforce a core requirement of NEPA. That leaves the White House.
The Democrats have adopted an ambitious platform for environmental protection, full of innovative legislative initiatives. Here’s another idea Biden and Harris should consider, making use of the oldest of the modern environmental statutes. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is best known for requiring environmental impact statements. While they have enforced that requirement, the courts …
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