State & Regional Climate Strategies The States as Green New Deal Policy Labs A look at the three major environmental and energy goals from the Green New Deal and a review of relevant state efforts to assess which policy tools are well-suited to the resolution’s goals. March 21, 2019
Power Sector Rolling Back the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards: Proposed Withdrawal of “Appropriate and Necessary” In recent months, the EPA has issued three proposals using similar strategies: the proposal to replace the Clean Power Plan with the Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule, the proposal to define the “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act and the proposal to withdraw the supplemental “appropriate and necessary finding” for the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS). Underpinning all three proposals is an extremely narrow interpretation of statutory text that excludes any of the usual rulemaking considerations under the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act. March 14, 2019
EPA Mission TrackerStudents Comparing EPA’s 2018 Year in Review with its Mission “The mission of EPA is to protect human health and the environment.” This straightforward mission should guide EPA in its work across a wide range of policy areas and statutes. […] March 7, 2019
EPA Mission Tracker Appointing a Climate Change Skeptic to EPA’s Advisory Committee EPA continues to diminish the credibility of the agency’s expert advisory committees. In January 2019, Wheeler appointed John Christy, a controversial professor of atmospheric science, to the Science Advisory Board. Christy […] February 22, 2019
EPA Mission Tracker Potential Presidential Committee on Climate Security The Washington Post reported that the White House is considering creating a new federal panel: the Presidential Committee on Climate Security. If formed, this committee would conduct an adversarial review of recent […] February 22, 2019
ClimateState & Regional Climate StrategiesStudents Willing to Face Legal Obstacles, Washington State Persists in Climate Policy Efforts Washington State has been in the news recently for its twice-failed efforts to pass a carbon tax via voter initiative. The state would have been the first U.S. jurisdiction to impose a carbon tax, and its failure to enact the tax has been deemed a “parable” for the challenge of addressing climate change. Instead, it may offer a different lesson: a failure at the ballot box (or in the legislature) does not necessarily foreclose climate action. February 21, 2019
Federal Policy Analysis How Congress Can Curb the Dismantling of the Environmental Protection Agency: An Oversight Agenda Congress can provide critical oversight to the Trump Administration’s attempts to dismantle the EPA by conducting hearings and requesting information from EPA. By enacting legislation like the Clean Air Act, […] January 10, 2019
Clean AirPower Sector MATS, Cost-Benefit Analysis, and the Appropriate and Necessary Finding The pending proposal would turn the Clean Air Act on its head: by rescinding the appropriate and necessary finding or revising it in a way to make it more vulnerable to legal challenge. December 21, 2018
Clean AirPower Sector Legal Analysis of MATS Rule and MATS Review Proposal Section 112 of the Clean Air Act mandates that EPA set emissions control standards for a number of hazardous air pollutants listed in the CAA. December 17, 2018