Last Friday, the Environmental Protection Agency announced that it planned to propose regulations governing the disposal of wastewater from hydraulic fracturing. The WSJ reported on the announcement and initial reactions here.
Archive | Environment
Assessing Endangered Species Science
By Jonathan H. Adler on October 18, 2011 11:01 am in Endangered Species, Environment, Politicizing Science
Last Thursday, at a congressional hearing, Assistant U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Gary Frazer said that the Interior Department’s Office of Science Integrity would conduct an independent evaluation of the work of FWS biologists accused by a federal judge of being dishonest with the court and acting in ‘”bad faith.” As the Los Angeles […]
Does the EPA Need $21 Billion to Hire 230,000 More Employees?
A Daily Caller story claiming the Environmental Protection Agency is “asking for taxpayers to shoulder the burden of up to 230,000 new bureaucrats — at a cost of $21 billion” in order to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act has caused a bit of a stir on the internet (see, e.g., here, […]
Are Motorcycles “Greener” Than Cars?
The LA Times reports on a Mythbusters investigation into whether motorcycles are a more environmentally friendly mode of transportation than cars, at least with regard to their fuel consumption and emissions. The investigation involved road-testing vehicles of each type from the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s while monitoring the vehicles’ fuel consumption and emissions. The results: […]
Cities Face New Emission Controls Even Without Tighter Ozone Standard
Earlier this month President Obama asked the Environmental Protection Agency to shelve a proposal to tighten the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for ozone this year. The Administration was apparently concerned about the cost a tighter standard would impose, and the EPA is required to consider revising the standard in 2013 anyway. Does this mean […]
The Green Tea Party
Terry Anderson of PERC argues that it’s time for a “Green Tea Party”: “a movement that brings environmental quality through economic prosperity.” The GTP’s platform would be that only prosperity and incentives can drive environmental improvements. The first plank: Wealthier is healthier. From the U.S. to the former Soviet Union, data show that economic growth […]
EPA Postpones Another Air Rule
Two weeks ago, President Obama asked EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to shelve plans to tighten the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for ozone, leaving any reconsideration of the current standard until 2013. This past week, the EPA announced it was delaying the planned release of proposed regulations to control greenhouse gas emissions from power plants […]
Jobs vs the Environment One More Time
The New York Times tries to provide some perspective to the renewed debate over the economic effect of environmental regulation, and the effect of regulation on jobs in particular. The story was prompted by President Obama’s decision to ask Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson to withdraw a proposed revision of the National Ambient Air […]
White House Halts New Federal Smog Standards
President Obama today told the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to set aside plans to tighten the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for ground-level ozone (aka “smog”). The proposed tightening was fiercely opposed by business groups as well as state and local governments, as the latter are charged with developing plans to meet the standards. In […]
Review of Doug Kysar’s Regulating from Nowhere
I reviewed Douglas Kysar’s Regulating from Nowhere: Environmental Law and the Search for Objectivity for the Spring 2011 issue of The New Atlantis. Overall, I found Kysar’s book thoughtful, provocative, wide-ranging and well-written, but not persuasive. In many ways, I think Kysar pursues the wrong quarry, and ignores some of the deeper problems in contemporary environmental […]
Wind Power Clipping Wings
Wind power provides substantial environmental benefits, not the least of which is that it produces electricity without emitting greenhouse gases or traditional air pollutants. It can also be useful source of distributed power. But (like anything else) it also has its drawbacks, such as its unsuitability for baseload power and (as some environmentalists are increasingly […]
Asian Carp Win Again
The Great Lakes states are concerned about the potential spread of Asian carp, an invasive species not native to North America, into the Great Lakes. They fear the carp could have significant negative ecological and economic consequences for the region. For the past few years, these states have sought (unsuccessfully) to obtain an injunction requiring […]
Can the GOP Be Anti-EPA and Pro-Environment?
Most of the GOP’s Presidential hopefuls have been savage in their criticism of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Indeed, some have called for the agency to be dismantled. Could this possibly be a good idea? I’m all for criticizing the inefficiency and ineffectiveness of federal environmental regulation — I’ve certainly done my share — but […]
Settling on Species Numbers
Biodiversity loss may be a serious environmental problem (I certainly believe it is), but scientists have had a hard time figuring out how many species are disappearing and how fast. One difficulty is the lack of consensus on how many species there are in the first place. Approximately 1.2 million species have been identified, but […]
Unchain Agricultural Biotechnology
Population growth and climate change demand increases in agricultural productivity — increases that can only be achieved through the use of modern biotechnology. Yet excessive and scientifically unjustified regulatory restrictions hamper the development of more productive crop strains, particularly where they are needed most. So argues Penn State biology professor Nina Federoff in today’s NYT, […]