Today’s Wall Street Journal has an interesting op-ed (subscribers only) on Europe’s climate change policies, their results, and how their emissions compare with those in the U.S.: the numbers show that if America is the Great Carbon Satan, Europe is certainly no angel. Since 2000, emissions of CO2 have been growing more rapidly in Europe, […]
Author Archive | Jonathan H. Adler
Dean’s Fury:
Hurricane Dean was measured a Category 5 storm before landfall in Mexico. As Chris Mooney reports, it is one of ten most intense Atlantic hurricanes ever measured. Dean was officially the most powerful hurricane that we’ve seen globally so far in 2007, and was by far the strongest at landfall. It was also the first […]
Forget Corn, Conserve Forests Instead.
Ethanol and other “bio-fuels” require extensive amounts of land for the cultivation of crops or other source material. So much so, that the environmental costs of such fuels can be substantial. Even from a carbon-emission standpoint, bio-fuels appear to be a bad investment. New research documents that forest conservation is a more effectie way of […]
The Continuing Value of DDT:
Donald Roberts, emeritus professor of tropical medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, writes in yesterday’s NYT: DDT, the miracle insecticide turned environmental bogeyman, is once again playing an important role in public health. In the malaria-plagued regions of Africa, where mosquitoes are becoming resistant to other chemicals, DDT is now being […]
Ninth Circuit State Secrets Case:
I had the chance to watch the oral arugment before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in one of the FISA/state secrets cases over the weekend (the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation case, available on C-Span here). My reaction to the oral argument (not having read the briefs) is that the Justice Department’s claim […]
NYT on Speedy (Executions) Gonzales:
Adam Liptak’s latest column discusses the new Justice Department rules that will allow the Attorney General to speed up appeals in capital cases. Under an odd provision in last year’s reauthorization of the USA Patriot Act, the antiterrorism law, the attorney general is to take on a role that has for more than a decade […]
The State of Civil Liberties:
University of Chicago law professor Geoffrey Stone, author of the excellent book Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime from The Sedition Act of 1798 to The War on Terrorism (among other things), believes the recent FISA amendments are unwise if not unconstitutional. Nonetheless, these legal changes must be viewed in perspective. The legislation amending FISA […]
More Bench Memos Boys v. Balkin:
The back-and-forth between Jack Balkin, on the one hand, and Matthew Franck and Ed Whalen on the other, over originalism, constitutional meaning, judicial restraint, and abortion continues apace. Here’s a quick round up. First, the Bench Memos boys respond to Balkin. Here’s Ed Whalen (part I): I accept Jack’s distinction between originalism (a theory of […]
Sunday Song Lyric:
This morning Hurricane Dean is bearing down on Jamaica. The impact could be devastating. The Cayman Islands could get their turn on Monday, followed by . . . ? Whether the U.S. or Mexico takes the next hit is still an open question. Will Dean be another Ivan or a Gilbert? Chris Mooney’s blog, The […]
Post Calls for Southwick Confirmation:
Today’s Washington Post editorializes in favor of Senate confirmation of Leslie Southwick to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit: BEFORE BEING nominated by President Bush to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, Leslie H. Southwick served for almost 12 years on the Mississippi Court of Appeals, where he participated […]
Compensate for Conservation’s Sake:
It is generally assumed that requiring compensation for regulatory takings would hamstring environmental conservation efforts. Forcing the federal government to pay landowners who lose the ability to modify their own land because it is designated as endangered species habitat or a jurisdictional wetland could well reduce the regulatory appetite of federal agencies (assuming the compensation […]
The Ney Investigation and the Jefferson Case:
This week, former Congressional aide William Heaton was sentenced to two years probation for his participation in a corruption scheme involving former Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH), for whom he worked, and Jack Abramoff. According to he Washington Post Heaton “avoided jail time because of his unusual role in helping the FBI and the Justice Department […]
Balkin Responds to Whelan:
The discussion between the folks at NRO and Jack Balkin over the latter’s variant of original meaning constitutional interpretation continues. In response to Ed Whelan’s series of posts I noted here (and part four here), Jack Balkin takes to his own defense here. Balkin concludes: my point– which I have made repeatedly in my articles– […]
Pilon v. Franck on Abigail Alliance:
Another debate has broken out on NRO, this one between Bench Memos regular Matthew Franck and Roger Pilon of the Cato Institute over the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit’s Abigail Alliance decision. Franck thinks the ruling was correct. Pilon begs to differ. Pilon initially attacked the opinion in the WSJ (which I […]
Should Hillary Clinton’s White House Records Be Disclosed?
The Los Angeles Times has an interesting report on the White House records of Hillary Clinton. Apparently, many of the White House files documenting her role in various policy matters will not be publicly disclosed until after the 2008 election. There’s nothing nefarious going on here. It simply takes time for archivists to process the […]