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SAFE Rule Examined Part 3 Trump Agencies’ Critique of Obama Auto Rule
The Safer Affordable Fuel Efficient Vehicles rule contains a powerful critique of the 2012 Obama administration rule it repeals and replaces. In a nutshell, the…
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Trump Administration to Grant One-Year Extension for Wind, Solar Credits
The Trump administration indicated this week it will adjust tax credit deadlines to help renewable energy investors to help their businesses survive the economic crisis.
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SAFE Rule Examined Part 2: Air Quality and Auto Safety
Today’s post examines the Final Safer Affordable Fuel Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles Rule’s estimated impacts on air quality and auto safety. Citations to the rule are…
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SAFE Rule Examined Part 1 Climate Change and the Great Lockdown
It’s been almost a month since the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the Final Safer Affordable Fuel Efficient…
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Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division Publishes Accomplishments Report
The Department of Justice’s Energy and Natural Resources Division published a report on Earth Day detailing its accomplishments to enforce the nation’s environmental, public lands, and…
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EPA Proposes to Retain Current Standards for Particulate Matter
The EPA proposed to retain the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for particulate matter established in 2012. Environmental groups predictably condemned the proposal. However,…
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GOP Climate Bill Does Carbon Capture and Storage Actually Reduce Emissions
The American Enterprise Institute this week published A Critique of the House Republican Climate Policy Proposals by AEI economist Benjamin Zycher. Zycher finds that the…
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Ninth Circuit Should Uphold Panel’s Decision to Dismiss Kids’ Climate Suit
The Department of Justice urged the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to stand by its decision to dismiss the so-called Kids Climate Suit on the…
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Will Coronavirus Fuel or Derail Climate Agenda?
Fear and angst are contagious. With the coronavirus still spreading and the U.S. and global economies in danger of freefall, people may become more receptive…
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Federal District Court Upholds Constitutionality of California-Quebec Climate Pact
On February 12, Federal District Judge William B. Shubb rejected the Trump administration’s constitutional challenge to California’s greenhouse gas emission trading pact with Québec. Judge…
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Eleven Free Market Groups Submit Joint Comments on Proposed Updated NEPA Regulations
CEI and 10 other free market organizations submitted comments supporting the Council on Environmental Quality’s (CEQ) Proposed Updated regulations for implementing the National Environmental Policy…
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New York Times’ Shoddy Reporting on Agency Skeptic
The New York Times recently ran an article titled “A Trump Insider Embeds Climate Denial in Scientific Research.” The fact-checkers and editors dropped the ball on this…
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Appeals Court Rules Heathrow Expansion Unlawful, Citing Paris Climate Treaty
The UK Court of Appeals on February 27th declared unlawful the Department of Transport’s approval of Heathrow Airport’s expansion plans, because the government “had…
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Report Misconstrues SAFE Rule ‘Rollbacks’
A recent Rhodium Group report purports to show by the numbers that the fuel economy “rollbacks” effected by the Trump administration’s forthcoming Safer Affordable Fuel…
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Study Finds Strong Acceleration in Ocean Circulation
As part of its “Climate in Crisis” series, NBC News on February 11 reported the results of a new study on “the undersea conveyor belts…
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House Panel Hears Testimony on USE IT Act
On February 6, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change held a hearing on the Utilizing Significant Emissions with Innovative Technologies…
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Fuel Economy Chaos – What Is it, Who Caused it, What’s the Cure
Automakers wanted easier rules and got more than they had the courage to ask for in the Trump administration’s Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Motor Vehicle…
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Worst-Case Emissions Scenario RCP8.5 Is Dead: BBC
BBC News last week rang down the curtain on the climate science fraternity’s long running malpractice of projecting climate change impacts using a worst-case emissions…
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Study Projecting Net Carbon Dioxide Benefits through 2050 Defended
Last Friday on the Daily Kos, an anonymous blogger called “Climate Denier Roundup” (CDR) posted a hit piece on a new study by Kevin D.
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New Study Projects Net Carbon Dioxide Benefits through at least 2050
The benefits of carbon dioxide emissions are likely to exceed costs over the next 30 years, according to a new study published in the journal…
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Warmest Decade – Climate Crisis Still a No Show
Is there good reason to believe climate change a “crisis” endangering the survival of civilization and the habitability of the Earth? No. If climate change…
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EIA Projects Renewables Will be “Most Used” Energy Source in 2050—but …
“With the rapid growth of electricity generation, renewables—including solar, wind, and hydroelectric power—are the fastest-growing energy source between 2018 and 2050, surpassing petroleum and other…
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Year in Review 2019: Climate Policy
The Trump administration this year continued to dismantle key components of President Obama’s climate policy “legacy.”…
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Dutch Supreme Court Upholds Climate Lawsuit against Government
The Dutch Supreme Court on December 20th rejected an appeal by the Dutch government to overturn an appellate court’s October 2018 decision to uphold a lower…
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Flex-Fuel Vehicles and Ethanol No Panacea for Energy Independence
Back in September, I posted a rebuttal to pollster Frank Luntz, who advised President Trump on Laura Ingraham’s Fox News program to promote E85—motor fuel…
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Down in Flames: Judge Dismisses New York Climate Lawsuit against ExxonMobil
New York Supreme Court Justice Barry Ostrager today acquitted ExxonMobil of all charges brought against the company by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
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Wind and Solar Tax Credits: Special Interest Subsidies
The House Ways and Means Committee on November 19th released a draft of its “Growing Renewable Energy and Efficiency Now (GREEN) Act” (summary). The sponsors propose to extend,…
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Activist Groups Demand Pelosi, Castor Implement Green New Deal
Two hundred fifty nine activist groups are demanding that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis Chair Kathy Castor…
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EPA, Progressives Clash over Transparency Rule
The House Science Committee held a hearing last week titled “Strengthening Transparency or Silencing Science? The Future of Science in EPA Rulemaking.” Most of the witnesses and…
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Will Trump ‘SAFE’ Rule for New Cars Harm Public Health?
Will the Trump administration’s auto rule harm public health? That’s what all five majority witnesses and several Democratic members of the House Oversight Environment Subcommittee…
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Major Auto Companies Auto Dealers Back Trump Fuel Economy Rule
On October 29, Marlo Lewis testified before the House Oversight Environment Subcommittee on the Trump administration’s Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles rule. As he noted,…
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Trump Administration Challenges Constitutionality of California Climate Pacts
Just when I thought the Trump administration could not get any bolder in challenging California’s self-anointed power to determine national climate policy, the Department of…
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House Panel Holds Hearing to Bash Exxon
The House Oversight Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties today held a hearing to examine “the oil industry’s efforts to suppress the truth about climate…
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Repeal of Trump Power Plant Rule Fails in Senate
The U.S. Senate today defeated by 53-41 a Democrat-sponsored Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval that aims to overturn the Trump administration’s Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule,…
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United States, Carbon Tax Laggard?
The United States “lags” other nations’ use of carbon taxes, ClimateWire (subscription required) reports. Specifically, the United States ranks 40th out of 44 countries in…
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Environmental Protection Agency to California: Clean up Your Act
In two separate actions, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) this week put California on notice that the state is violating federal air and water…
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Progressive States Petition Court to Declare Trump Pre-emption Rule Unlawful
A California-led coalition of 24 states and three cities today petitioned the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to declare unlawful the Trump administration’s One National Program…
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Trump Administration Terminates California’s Unlawful Power over Auto Industry
Today, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) took the first step towards finalizing…
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Trump Administration Pushes Back on California’s Fuel Economy Scheming
Since at least March 2018, the Trump administration and the state of California have been engaged in a legal and political struggle over the stringency…
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CNN Hosts Seven-Hour ‘Climate Crisis Town Hall’ with Democratic Presidential Candidates
CNN on September 4th broadcast a seven-hour “Climate Crisis Town Hall” featuring ten Democratic presidential candidates. Each of the following candidates was in the spotlight…
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Ethanol ‘Flex Fuel’ No Solution for Climate—or Political Compromise
Pollster Frank Luntz discussed climate policy Thursday night with Laura Ingraham on her Fox News program “The Ingraham Angle.” In the previous segment, Ingraham interviewed…
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Free-Market Groups Urge Reform of National Environmental Policy Act
CEI and five other free market groups submitted comments on the White House Council on Environmental Quality’s Draft National Environmental Policy Act Guidance on Consideration of Greenhouse…
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Senator Bernie Sanders Releases $16 Trillion Green New Deal Plan
On August 22nd, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) released a 14,000-word plan to implement the Green New Deal—a detailed blueprint to “avert climate catastrophe and create…
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Climate Study Urges Blacklisting of Contrarians
Authors of a study published recently in the journal Nature Communications want editors and journalists to blacklist “climate change contrarians.” Of course, the study doesn’t…
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Climate Blame Game
In “Reformed Climate Deniers Don’t Deserve Redemption,” author Dave Leviton argues that Republican pollster Frank Luntz had no business testifying before the Senate Democrats’ Special Committee…
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Advocacy Journalism Gears up to Promote UN Climate Conference
The Columbia Journalism Review reported on July 26th that more than 60 news organizations have signed up to devote “one week of focused coverage” to the international…
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Judge Rejects Climate Suit to Establish ‘Right to Wilderness’
Oregon District Court Judge Michael McShane on July 31st rejected a petition by two nonprofit groups—Animal Legal Defense Fund and Seeding Sovereignty—and six individuals who allege the…
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Climate Change Gets 21 Minutes in Five-Hour Presidential Debate
CNN hosted the 2nd Democratic presidential candidates’ debate this week on two consecutive nights (July 30th and 31st). Twenty of the 24 Democratic candidates participated, with 10…
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Major Automakers Cave to California on Trump Auto Rule
The Washington Post reported on July 25th that Ford, Honda, Volkswagen, and BMW North America have “struck a deal with California to produce fleets that are more…
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Post Heat Wave Reflections
The recent heat wave was a hot one. Naturally, progressive commentary “linked” it to climate change. The linkage almost seems tautological. How could rising global…
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Climate Risk Disclosure Proposal Would Destroy, Not Protect, Shareholder Value
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) on Wednesday introduced legislation (S. 2075) to require publicly-traded companies to disclose climate-related risks to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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Affordable Clean Energy Rule Improves Obama-era Policy, Still Contains Fatal Flaw
The Federal Register yesterday published the Environmental Protection Agency’s final Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule, along with the agency’s response to public comments on the…
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Reuters Poll: Do Americans Want Aggressive Action on Climate?
Do Americans want “aggressive action” on climate change? That’s the subject of a new opinion poll conducted by Reuters. “Americans demand climate action (as long…
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White House Releases Revised Guidance for Climate Policy
The White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) recently released the pre-publication draft of their proposed National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Guidance on Consideration of…
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Energy and Commerce Committee Holds Contentious Hearing on Trump Auto Rule
The House Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing on June 20th on the Trump administration’s Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) motor vehicle rule. The rule proposes to freeze Corporate Average…
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ACE Rule Massive Improvement over ‘Clean Power’ Plan
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) yesterday finalized its Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from existing coal power plants under Section 111(d)…
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‘Citizen’s Guide to Climate Change’ Exposes Activist Falsehoods
Climate change is not a hoax, but as a political matter, it is a perpetual pretext for expanding government control over the economy, redistributing wealth,…
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Automakers to Trump: Keep Us Captive to California Bureaucrats
Seventeen automakers, including Ford, General Motors, and Toyota Motor North America sent a letter on 6th June to President Donald J. Trump urging him not to challenge California’s…
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Bjorn Lomborg and John Christy Shred Climate Alarmism
The latest talking point of progressive politicians, pundits, and activists is that America cannot afford not to spend trillions of dollars to “solve the climate…
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‘Forefront of Opportunity and Abundance’—Sec. Pompeo’s Remarks to Arctic Council
On May 7th in Finland, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo participated in the eleventh Ministerial Meeting of the Arctic Council. The meeting “ended without…
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Extinction Rebellion Heats Up UK Climate Ambition (or Rhetoric)
Spurred by David Attenborough’s global warming documentary, Extinction Rebellion protests, and homilies by teen activist Greta Thunberg, the United Kingdom became the first nation on Earth to…
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On Climate, Lindsey Graham Says GOP Ready to ‘Cross Rubicon’
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told reporters yesterday at an Earth Day event in Dallas that congressional Republicans are “ready to cross the Rubicon” on climate…
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EPA Mercury Rule an Inappropriate Exercise of Regulatory Power
On Wednesday, I submitted comments on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposal to rescind its justification for the 2012 Mercury Air Toxics Standards (MATS) rule.
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Carbon Tax Not a Conservative Policy
Yesterday’s E&E News ran an article titled “Inside conservatives’ disarray on climate.” E&E reporter Mark Matthews was inspired to write the piece by an email…
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House Has No Jurisdiction over Paris Agreement
If you have ever wondered whether Democratic leaders understand the U.S. Constitution when they bash President Trump for allegedly violating it, or just use “unconstitutional”…
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World Not on Cusp of Energy Revolution: Study
In “The ‘New Energy Economy’: An Exercise in Magical Thinking,” Manhattan Institute scholar Mark P. Mills explains, in layman-friendly physics and economics, why mandates and subsidies…
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Profiles in Courage: McConnell Video Mocks Green New Deal Advocates
Yesterday, the U.S. Senate voted against advancing Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-NY) Green New Deal resolution to the Senate floor for debate…
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Ignorance Is Strength, Dissent Is Stalinist
In an op-ed published yesterday in the UK Guardian, Michael Mann and Bob Ward warn Americans not to be “fooled by the Stalinist tactics being…
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CEI Supports EPA’s Proposed Revision of Power Plant Rule
Yesterday I submitted comments on behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute supporting EPA’s proposal to dramatically scale back the agency’s 2015 rule establishing “carbon pollution”…
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Defense Establishment Blasts Proposal for Trump Climate Review
In a letter released earlier this week, 58 “former national security leaders” urge President Trump not to approve the formation of a panel to review…
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How Much Will the Green New Deal Cost Your Family?
The American Action Forum (AAF) yesterday posted a preliminary analysis of the scope, implications, and costs of the Green New Deal (GND). I can’t wait…
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California’s Gov. Newsom Slams Brakes on California Bullet Train
California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) on February 12th unexpectedly slammed the brakes on the state’s high-speed rail project. The project “as currently planned, would cost too…
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Carbon Capture and Storage Not ‘Best System’ to Reduce Emissions
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency yesterday held an all-day “listening session” at its Washington, D.C. headquarters on its proposal to revise the Obama administration’s new…
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Kids Climate Litigants Petition Court to Stop Fossil Fuel Development
Kelsey Juliana and her fellow litigants are the youngsters who, since 2015, have been suing the federal government to “prepare and implement an enforceable national remedial plan to…
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House Climate Hearing off to Bad Start
The newly-minted environment and climate change subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee will hold a hearing today titled “Time for Action: Addressing the Environmental…
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EPA’s Andrew Wheeler Appoints John Christy to Science Advisory Board
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler on January 31st announced the appointment of some 29 experts to serve on the agency’s Science Advisory Board…
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Forecast: U.S. to Become Net Energy Exporter in 2020
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) expects the United States to become a net energy exporter in 2020. That is the “reference case” projection in…
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Oregon Court Rebuffs Kids’ Climate Lawsuit
Oregon’s Court of Appeals ruled on 9th January that the public-trust doctrine does not impose a “fiduciary obligation” on the state to develop and implement…
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Environmental Protection Agency Proposes Changes to Mercury Air Rule
On December 28th, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed to rescind the Obama EPA’s justification for its 2012 Mercury Air Toxics Standards (MATS) rule. MATS…
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Year in Review 2018: Climate Policy
The Trump administration this year took additional steps to dismantle key components of President Obama’s climate policy “legacy.” Supporting and guiding those efforts is a…
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Attacks on Trump Administration Environmental Federalism Fall Short
Today’s Energy & Environment News (subscription required) has an article titled “Wheeler preaches federalism on water, not cars.” The gist is that various critics claim…
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How Realistic Is National Climate Assessment’s Worst Case Scenario?
How realistic is the National Climate Assessment’s worst-case emissions scenario? A report released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Tuesday sheds some interesting…
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Latest Bipartisan Carbon Tax Folly
On Tuesday, November 27th, Representatives Ted Deutch (D-FL), Francis Rooney (R-FL), John K. Delaney (D-MD), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), and Charlie Crist (D-FL) introduced H.R. 7173,…
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National Climate Assessment Still Needs a Reset
The U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) released Volume II of its Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4) report last week on November 23rd. Volume I,…
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Judge Blocks Keystone XL Pipeline
Montana federal judge Brian Morris ruled on November 8th that the State Department and TransCanada Corporation must discontinue all efforts to construct or operate the Keystone XL…
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What Do the Midterms Mean for Carbon Taxes?
Washington State’s Initiative 1631 to establish a “carbon emissions fee” went down in flames Tuesday with opponents outvoting supporters by 56 to 44 percent.
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Hole in the ACE: Legal Flaws in EPA’s Proposed ‘Clean Power Plan’ Replacement
The comment period closed this week (October 31st) for the Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule, Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed replacement for the so-called…
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Fewer Regulations, More Energy, Lower Emissions
The Trump administration had cheery news to report this week about deregulation, U.S. energy production, and greenhouse gas emissions.
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Dutch Appeals Court, Citing Paris Climate Treaty, Upholds Climate Lawsuit
A Dutch appeals court last week upheld a lower court’s June 2015 decision requiring the government to cut Holland’s carbon dioxide…
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Twelve States Ask Court to Dismiss Climate Lawsuit against Big Oil
A dozen states led by Indiana this week filed an amicus brief asking the federal district court in Seattle, Washington to dismiss a climate…
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Booker and Holt Caricature Science Transparency Rule at Senate Hearing
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee held a hearing this week on the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed rule to strengthen the transparency…
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Coal Plant Developers Still Building, Investing Despite Paris Agreement
“Since the Paris Climate Agreement was negotiated in December 2015, the world’s installed coal-fired capacity grew by 92,000 MW—an increase equal to the combined operating…
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Trump Auto Rule: Washington Post’s Non-Shocking Non-Discovery
Today in the Washington Post, Juliet Eilperin, Brady Dennis, and Chris Mooney bash the Trump Administration’s SAFE Vehicles Rule, a proposal to freeze…
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‘Energy Independence’ Hawks Caricature Trump Auto Rule
Securing America’s Energy Future (SAFE), a pro-regulatory “energy independence” advocacy group, this week released “The Military Cost of Defending Global Oil Supplies.” The report…
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Free-Market Groups Urge Congress to Eliminate, Not Expand, Electric Vehicle Tax Credits
In a joint letter released this week, thirty free market groups urged House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) to oppose “any effort to expand…
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California’s Gov. Brown Issues Carbon Neutrality Order, Signs Renewable Energy Bill
California Governor Jerry Brown (D) on September 10th issued Executive Order B-55-18 establishing a statewide goal to “achieve carbon neutrality as soon as possible, and…
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Ninth Circuit Opens Pandora’s Box in Oregon Fuel Standards Case
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals last week upheld Oregon’s Low Carbon Fuel Standards (LCFS), dismissing a lawsuit filed by U.S. refiners, truckers,…
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Energy Dominance: Department of Interior Breaks Previous Records for Oil and Gas Lease Sales
“In a testament to the Trump Administration's America First Energy Plan, the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) third-quarter oil and gas lease sale in New…
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IPCC Overestimates Climate Sensitivity: Study
A new study by climate scientists Judith Curry and Nic Lewis, published in the August 2018 edition of Journal of Climate, estimates median values…
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Securities and Exchange Commission Drops Probe of ExxonMobil over Climate Risk
The Wall Street Journal reported late last Friday that Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulators have “decided against trying to penalize the energy giant over its…