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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…