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Debunking the ‘Race to the Bottom’ Theory of Regulatory Competition
Its success in policymaking notwithstanding, the "race to the bottom" theory has fared poorly with the passage of time.
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Trump Administration Nominates Holly Greaves to Most Important EPA Post You’ve Never Heard of
Members of Congress should press Greaves to ensure that she is committed to producing an intelligible budget that allows for congressional oversight.
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EPA Considers ‘What Comes Next’ after Ending Obama-Era Clean Power Plan
This week's Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking is a brainstorming exercise for what comes in the wake of the EPA’s rescission of the Clean Power…
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Despite Global Warming, Developers Still Love Miami
20,000 condominiums are in various stages of construction in Miami, in spite of global warming.
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EPA Administrator Pruitt Cleans Up Advisory Committees
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt today is going to announce a new agency policy whereby independent science advisors cannot be funded by agency grants.
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House Passes Two Bills to Reform EPA Settlement Abuse
By a 238-183 bipartisan vote on October 24, the House of Representatives passed the Stop Settlement Slush Funds Act of 2017 (H.R. 732).
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EPA Administrator Pruitt’s Welcome Efforts to End Sue and Settle
On October 15, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt issued a directive taking on the practice known as “sue and settle,” whereby environmental…
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Senate Budget Resolution Breathes Life into ANWR
By a 51-49 vote, the Senate this past week passed a budget resolution that creates a fast-track process for writing legislation to permit drilling in…
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My Take on Energy Department’s Prompt Letter to FERC
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is the federal agency responsible for regulating interstate power flows, but the Federal Power Act authorizes the Department of…
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Sen. Graham’s Perplexing Pivot to a Carbon Tax
Lindsey Graham's enthusiasm for a carbon tax may be less popular than he imagines.
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Clinton’s ‘What Happened’ Latest Evidence that Climate Mitigation Policy Is Political Poison
Climate change policy is opposed by healthy bipartisan majorities.
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Fuzzy Math behind Xcel’s New ‘Colorado Energy Plan’
The Colorado utility is claiming that unnecessarily retiring cheap power and then replacing it with new expensive power would somehow save ratepayers money.
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Weak Allegations Fill NYT’s Latest Ill-Founded Pruitt Expose
The New York Times is back with another attempted blockbuster on Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt.
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Congress, Courts Should Stamp Out EPA’s Power of the Purse
Federal judges should give greater thought to what is being asked of them when the government seeks a court order entering a consent decree that…
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SCOTUS’s Illogical ADEC Opinion Roiling Clean Air Act Cooperative Federalism
If the EPA’s expert always receives deference, then the state is very much subject to “second guessing,” despite the fact that states have no less…
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Two Responses to Anonymous EPA Staffer Diary in New York Magazine
EPA employees work for the American people, not the Sierra Club.
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EPA Chlorpyrifos Imbroglio Demonstrates Confounding Journalistic Themes
Confounding beliefs lead to cognitive dissonance for the modern progressive environmental reporter.
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Bad Week in Courts for EPA Policy
If the Trump administration had folded the Obama-era appeal of Judge Bailey’s decision, then the only legal precedent regarding the relevant section of the Clean…
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Government Documents on EPA-VW Settlement Highlight Need for Congressional Oversight
It is well past time for a committee of jurisdiction to ask of the EPA: How much are you spending on the VW settlement?…
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EPA Should Use Review of Mercury and Air Toxics ‘Supplemental Analysis’ to Put ‘Co-benefits’ in the Grave
The Trump EPA should undertake its own supplemental analysis, including a review of the one performed by the previous administration.
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What Congress and the Trump Administration Need to Do to Fix the EPA’s Broken Budget
Congress should demand that EPA submit a budget that is capable of being understood by lawmakers.
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A Short & Concrete Defense of the Legal Risk Rationale behind the Paris Exit
The agreement could have been used to muck up the Trump administration’s planned rollback of Obama-era climate rules, including the Clean Power Plan…
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Paris Exit Enjoys Electoral Legitimacy Agreement Itself Lacked
Trump’s Paris exit fulfills a 2016 campaign pledge.
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Why Not a “Nuclear Option” for Legislative Vetoes?
For the sake of clarity, I start with questions presented in this blog, which serve as a useful guide: Is it constitutional for one Congress…
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New York Times Again Misses Mark with Pruitt Hit
The truth is a lot blander then what the journalists would have you believe.
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Confusing EPA Budget Process Calculated to Resist Meaningful Oversight
Congress can’t exercise the power of the purse to rein in an administrative agency when lawmakers have no idea how the money is spent.
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Double Dose of Good News from D.C. Circuit Court
In a double dose of good news, the D.C. Circuit Court this week put on hold litigation surrounding two major Obama-era EPA rules for existing…
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Bipartisan Attorney General Letter Opposes Electric Vehicle Industrial Policy in EPA-VW Settlement
A bipartisan group of state attorneys general has released of a letter opposing the electrical vehicle infrastructure plan that the EPA negotiated with Volkswagen over…
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Top Three Silliest Reactions to Trump’s Climate Executive Order
#3 Silliest Reaction: Red Scare! According to Nathan Richardson at Resources for the Future, the big problem with Trump’s Executive Order is what it signals…
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More Anxiety over White House Budget for EPA
Whatever the administration hopes to accomplish with its budget, it must work with Congress.
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Buckeye Institute Study: Ohio’s Green Energy Mandate Is Bad Economics
If Ohio's renewable energy mandate is fully implemented, the state would suffer 134,100 fewer jobs and a loss of $15.5 billion in GDP by 2026…
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Courts Should Abandon Deference Doctrines; Congress Should Fund Review Capacity
Judicial deference has engendered an imbalance between Articles II and III of the U.S. government, and we should look to the Founding Fathers for a…
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Proposed EPA Budget Cuts Raise Serious Concerns
Proposed cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency budget suggest a poorly thought out initial effort.
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Trump Not Bound by Obama Volkswagen Settlement with EPA
The judicial settlement which was reached between Volkswagen and the U.S. Department of Justice last October infringes on President Trump’s Article II authority.
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Congress Should Eliminate Obama’s Stream Protection Rule
Congress should eliminate the Department of Interior’s harmful Stream Protection Rule. …
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White House Should Revisit Volkswagen Settlement with EPA
A coalition of free-market groups ask President Trump to investigate the VW emissions settlement with the EPA.
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Vox Begs the Question on Climate Change ‘Lukewarmers’
The key insight of the "lukewarmer" position on climate change is that policy has costs and that these costs can harm human beings just as…
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Advice for EPA, Part 3: How to Restore Cooperative Federalism
The Environmental Protection Agency can achieve bipartisan environmental improvement by restoring harmony between itself and state governments. …
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Misleading New Republic Hit on EPA Nominee Scott Pruitt Demonstrates Ignorance of Subject Matter
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Key Omission Undercuts Attempted New York Times Exposé of EPA Nominee Scott Pruitt
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Reaction to Reported EPA Fuel Efficiency Rule, Part 1: The Politics of the Matter
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Scrutinizing Sen. Carper’s Questions for EPA Nominee Pruitt
Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) is unwilling to hold a confirmation hearing on President-elect Trump’s choice for Environmental Protection Agency administrator until the nominee, Oklahoma Attorney…
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Activist Criticism Again Misses Mark on EPA Nominee Pruitt
It’s implausible to argue that Pruitt’s past acceptance of PAC donations are “unprecedented” for someone overseeing the…
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Environmental Litigation Strategies and Defenses for Trump Era
Environmental litigation groups like the Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Center for Biological Diversity will pursue three types of lawsuits over the…
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New York Times Misleads on U.S.-China Renewable Energy Trade
The source of demand for Chinese renewable energy exports are countries, like the U.S. and Europe, that have mandated and subsidized green energy.
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Energy & Environmental Policy News: Multimedia Roundup
Observations and analysis on recent energy and environment news by senior fellow William Yeatman.
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Second Round of Advice for EPA: People Are Policy
The incoming Administration should fill lower ranking political appointees at the EPA with officials across a broad spectrum of state environmental programs and legal officers.
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EPA Region 6 Throws Bombs to the Bitter End
Among the Environmental Protection Agency's 10 offices, by far the most aggressive during the Obama administration has been Region 6, which operates out of Dallas…
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Environmental Defense Fund Attack Ad Full of Lies about EPA Nominee Scott Pruitt
The Environmental Defense Fund’s mendacious attack ad on Scott Pruitt demonstrates much that is wrong with the green movement.
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Is It ‘Mission Accomplished’ for the EPA?
Does it make any sense to spend ever greater sums of money for ever fewer environmental benefits? That’s the very fair question that’s been asked…
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What Paul Ehrlich’s “Eco-Catastrophe!” Tells Us about Climate Change Alarmism
In “Eco-Catastrophe,” the bad guys are “obtuse agriculturists and economists” whose false bill of goods (the green revolution) plunges the globe into anarchy. In real…
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Trump Administration Will Have Legal Authority to Halt Clean Power Plan
It would not be illegal for President Trump to order the Environmental Protection Agency not to enforce the Clean Power Plan.
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NRDC Is Wrong: Trump Can Issue Day 1 Executive Order Declaring Clean Power Plan Illegal
The Clean Power Plan in its current form is illegal, and there is no problem with the President issuing an executive order to this effect…
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Two Recommendations for EPA: 1) Revise, Don’t Repeal; 2) Do Your Job
There is a climate policy that’s even worse than EPA regulations written by Natural Resources Defense Council lobbyists: state torts for injunctive or monetary relief…
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Obama’s National Monument Designation: Second-Term Environmental Policymaking at Its Worst
It is outrageous that President Obama, on the way out the door, would try to irrevocably federalize 1.3 million acres in the state, in spite…
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Can Any Branch of Government Oversee the EPA?
Federal regulatory agencies have escaped effective oversight from the Congress and the courts.
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Obama Couldn’t Win a Third Term, Because He Would Have To Own His Global Warming Policy
I strongly doubt that President Obama would win a third term, as he claimed yesterday.
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EPA’s Clean Power Plan Lies Undermine Congressional Oversight
Congress’s primary means of investigation are hearings and follow up questions, but these mechanisms are rendered meaningless when the agency lies.
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Congress Must Combat Threats to Affordable Energy
Policy makers should reject policies to tax and regulate away mankind’s access to affordable energy.
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The Real Victim in the Dakota Access Pipeline Controversy Is the Company behind the Project
The real victims in the controversy over the Dakota Access Pipeline is Dakota Access Services, the company behind the 3.7 billion project that would move…
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Federal Judge Rules That EPA Must Account for Job Losses of Its Regulations
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Congress’s Aversion to Power Undercuts Constitutional Safegaurds
A foundational principle behind the structure of the U.S. government, as provided by the Constitution, is that human beings are power hungry.
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Inquiry into Judicial Deference
Deference is judicial respect for agency interpretations of ambiguities in texts that carry the force and effect of law.
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Response to Prof. Aaron Nielson on ‘Auer Deference’
As I’ve discussed before, there is a robust ongoing debate over the propriety of Article III courts giving binding respect to a regulatory agency’s interpretations…
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Response to Prof. Ronald Levin on ‘Auer Deference’
Last week, I posted about an ongoing symposium at Notice & Comment, regarding Auer deference to agency interpretations of their own regulations.
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Obama Administration Violates Judicial Independence in Dakota Pipeline Case
Last week, I lambasted the Obama administration for effectively overturning an Article III court decision regarding the Dakota Access Pipeline. Below is a summary of…
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Obama’s Worst Power Grab Yet
The $3.7 billion Dakota Access Pipeline is a partially completed project that would move almost 500,000 barrels of oil daily from the Bakken oil fields in…
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Everything You Should Know about ‘Auer Deference,’ the Most Pressing Issue in Administrative Law
Among the most controversial topics in administrative law is the propriety of Article III courts giving binding deference to agency interpretations of their own regulations.
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Clean Power Plan Litigation: A Giant Ball of Uncertainties
Prognosticating judicial outcomes is a foolish endeavor in general, but trying to predict the fate of the Clean Power Plan in Article III courts is…
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Senate EPW Takes Gina McCarthy to Task for Broken Promises
During the summer of 2013, the Senate considered Gina McCarthy’s nomination to become head of the EPA. In the course of this deliberation, Republicans on…
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Olympic Ceremony an Example of Cheap Talk on Global Warming
“Doing something” about global warming is hard and requires economic sacrifice.
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Volkswagen Deal on Zero Emission Vehicles an End Run around Congress
In his 2011 State of the Union Address, President Obama promised to put 1 million electric vehicles on the road. To this end, the President…
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Elon Musk Angry at Having to Compete for Taxpayer Handouts
“Rent seeking” occurs when companies secure government benefits for actions that do not otherwise create wealth.
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EPA’s Missed Deadlines Causing Widespread Dysfunction
Yesterday I published a study that reviews EPA’s performance for more than 1,000 Clean Air Act deadlines. Here’s the big takeaway: the agency missed 84…
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Worst Procedural Abuses of the Obama Era: Secret Rules
Since Obama took office, the EPA’s grossest procedural violation was so outrageous that the agency voluntarily reversed course after it came to light. In the…
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Worst Procedural Abuses of the Obama Era: The Series
Inspired by our friends at RegBlog, Open Market is publishing a new blog series this week on pressing issues in administrative law and regulatory policy.
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Senator “Which Way” Whitehouse Can’t Decide Whether #ExxonKnows
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) on Monday introduced a “Web of Denial” concurrent resolution, which “condemns groups who have misled the…
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Primer on the Separation of Powers Restoration Act
The House today will vote on H.R. 4768, the Separation of Powers Restoration Act (SOPRA). This bill would direct courts to stop giving controlling respect…
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Dear RegBlog: Special Interests Can Capture Agencies, Too
Regulatory capture occurs when special interests coopt the power of the state in order to advance their narrow interests at the expense of the public…
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Another Reporter Revises History of Congressional Climate Policy
Over at BNA Energy and Environment Blog, Dean Scott has an interview with Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA). At one point, the discussion turned to a…
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Obama Finally Campaigns on Climate Change (for Someone Else)
A theme that I’ve visited frequently in the past is the illegitimacy of President Obama’s climate agenda. To recap, Obama ran away from climate change…
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My One Agreement with Sen. Warren: Federal Rulemaking Should Be Transparent
In my two previous posts, I picked apart Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s allegation that notice and comment rulemakings are unfairly tilted in the favor of regulated…
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More Wrongheadedness from Sen. Warren on Notice and Comment Rulemakings
Under the Administrative Procedure Act, federal agencies are required to undertake certain procedures when they promulgate rules of general applicability.
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Sen. Warren’s Baseless Criticism of Notice and Comment Rulemaking
In a recent blog post about “regulatory capture,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren claimed that notice and comment rulemaking is unduly biased towards regulated parties.
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NYT’s Sensationally Incorrect Headline and Other Climate Notes
The silliest news items are those that belie their headlines, as is the case with a sensational front-page story in today’s New York Times, titled…
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EPA Tries to Cover Its Tracks in Texas by Sending 17 Years of History Down the Memory Hole
Background: The Regional Haze rule is a Clean Air Act regulation whose purpose is to improve the view at National Parks. Because it is…
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Wind Energy Industry Suffers Fuel Shortage in 2015
Wind energy can’t compete. Instead, it exists only by the grace of favorable politics. On the supply side, the industry enjoys the federal production tax…
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Haiku: “No Energy Left”
Inspired by SunEdison’s near bankruptcy (among other terrible news for the solar power industry) and infused with the spirit of Japanese culture…
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House Energy and Environment Notes
Both chambers of Congress are in recess now, but there were some goings-on in the House last Wednesday that merit mention. The first was EPA…
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Is EPA Trying to Centrally Plan the Auto Sector (in Addition to the Electric Sector)?
With the Clean Power Plan, President Obama’s marquee climate policy, the Environmental Protection Agency is trying to run the electricity sector. Of course, the agency…
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News Cycle Contradicts Green Energy Revolution
Last Thursday, The Wall Street Journal’s Jeff Bennet and Christina Rogers reported that auto dealers “are telling auto makers to limit production of passenger cars in…
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Democrats’ Debate Further Demonstrates Illegitimacy of Obama’s Climate Pivot
In the wake of Tuesday’s unexpected decision by the Supreme Court to stay the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan, politicians and commentators are…
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A Banner Day for Rule of Law, Constitution, and Common Sense
In an unexpected and unprecedented decision, the Supreme Court last evening granted an application by more than two dozen states to stay implementation of the…
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In Defending Clean Power Plan before the Supreme Court, EPA/DOJ Misrepresent Clean Air Act with Lame Editing Tricks
Lawyers for the EPA and the Department of Justice (DOJ) are trying to pull a fast one on the Supreme Court. Through creative formatting, they…
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In FERC Ruling, Supreme Court Announces Dangerous New “No Man’s Land” Principle
On January 26, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the federal government in a high profile case, FERC v. Electric Power Supply Association. Media…
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Is Any Component of Obama’s Energy Policy Not Shrouded in Obfuscation?
Last week, Bloomberg News’s Toluse Olorunnipa tweeted from a Detroit auto show that President Obama “slammed” Republicans for having predicted high gas prices during his administration. …
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SOTU Response: Fisking O’s Climate Spiel
PRESIDENT OBAMA: “Look, if anybody still wants to dispute the science around climate change, have at it. You’ll be pretty lonely, because you’ll be debating…
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House Checks Sue and Settle with Sunshine Act
Yesterday the House passed the Sunshine for Regulatory Decrees and Settlements Act (H.R. 712) by a slightly bipartisan 244-173 vote. The bill targets “sue and…
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Judge Allows Deposition of EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy
Clean Air Act §321(a) requires the EPA to monitor job losses due to the agency’s environmental regulations. In March 2014, Murray Energy, an Ohio-based coal…
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Record Number of States Launch Legal Challenge to Clean Power Plan
Twenty six States this week filed legal challenges to the Clean Power Plan in the federal court of appeals for the D.C. Circuit. As far…