Trump Administration
‘Schedule F’ Would Be Bad—Even for Trump
My time in the Biden administration shows that Project 2025’s proposal to purge civil servants would be bad policy for everyone.
Here’s one of the best kept secrets of the federal government: nothing gets done without effective civil servants. I learned this secret firsthand in the three years I just spent at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), first as Chief Counsel, then as Acting Administrator. Political appointees, as I was, help set an agency’s …
Continue reading “‘Schedule F’ Would Be Bad—Even for Trump”
CONTINUE READINGThe Libertarian Critique of Trump’s “Schedule F”
As it turns out, you can hate BOTH government regulation and Trump’s assault on the “deep state.”
Installing inexperienced ideologues in the executive branch won’t accomplish anything useful and would only make it harder to implement deregulatory policies. The main effect of Schedule F would be gridlock rather than policy change
CONTINUE READINGThe Zombie Myth of Job-Killing Regulations
Some ideas never die, no matter how much evidence piles up against them.
With the Labor Day weekend coming up, let’s talk about jobs. Some myths are like zombies in two ways. They refuse to lie down and die, not matter what you do. And if you aren’t careful, they can eat your brain. An example is the idea that environmental regulation kills jobs. Tragically, this brain worm …
Continue reading “The Zombie Myth of Job-Killing Regulations”
CONTINUE READINGThe Tragedy of Indifference
This election will have huge consequences for climate change. Sadly, that doesn’t seem to matter that much at the polls.
The partisan divide is real: Democrats are three times more likely than Republicans to view climate change as a major threat. Even so, a quarter of Republicans agreed with Democrats on this. The problem is that only 37% (almost all Democrats) view climate change as their top priority.
CONTINUE READINGTrump’s Replacement for Project 2025: The “Other” MAGA Plan
It’s not Project 2025, but the “America First Agenda” is worse in some ways.
From the perspective of those who believe in environmental protection, the Trump team’s switch from one rightwing think tank to another doesn’t seem to be much of an improvement. They would both set environmental law back by decades.
CONTINUE READINGThe Ins and Outs of Kennedy’s Environmental Positions
His campaign website is a mashup of very different perspectives, from “back to the earth” to tech bro.
Working through his website seemed to reveal a broad effort to combine distrust of government and big business), belief in free markets, and valuing nature and the land for their own sakes. Kennedy offers an unusual blend of Sixties “back to the land” environmentalism with Tech Bro libertarianism.
CONTINUE READINGIn Their Own Words: Climate Policy and the Party Platforms
The GOP and Democratic Platforms take starkly different approaches.
The two major parties have very different views about energy policy and climate change. Here are their official views, in their own language. Compare and contrast!
CONTINUE READINGDid Democrats Follow Through?
The 2020 Democratic Platform made some big promises. Four years later, where do things stand?
Many of the climate promises in the 2020 Democratic platform were kept, and large down-payments were made toward fulfilling others. The glass is definitely more than half full.
CONTINUE READINGThe Impoundment Gambit
Trump plans to use this unconstitutional strategy to reverse congressional priorities and gut environmental agencies.
Trump’s claim of constitutional control over spending would allow him to slash social security or environmental protection with a single stroke his pen, and there would be nothing Congress could do about it.
CONTINUE READINGSchedule F and the Future of the Regulatory State
What is Schedule F? Would it be legal? And why does it matter so much?
Trump has vowed to destroy the “deep state” and to wreak vengeance on his enemies. Something called “Schedule F” is one of the key tools he plans to use as soon as he takes office to “remove rogue bureaucrats,” and he promises to use that tool “very aggressively.”
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