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Statement on Coal Ash News

CPR President Rena Steinzor has issued this statement on today's coal ash news.  She says:

Because EPA is actively considering these two very different approaches, it has not actually proposed anything from a regulatory perspective. The EPA will almost certainly have to go back and get another round of public comment before making a final decision, which is not what Jackson wanted when she walked into OIRA’s door. ... The White House has met with industry representatives on this issue literally dozens of times, and it's no surprise those meetings netted a delay. The administration could and should have moved ahead months ago with one strong proposal to tackle toxic coal ash.

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Ben Somberg | May 4, 2010

Statement on Coal Ash News

CPR President Rena Steinzor has issued this statement on today’s coal ash news.  She says: Because EPA is actively considering these two very different approaches, it has not actually proposed anything from a regulatory perspective. The EPA will almost certainly have to go back and get another round of public comment before making a final […]

Ben Somberg | May 4, 2010

Coal Ash Announcement Today

EPA is making an announcement right now. We’ll have more soon. Update: EPA’s announcement is up.

Victor Flatt | May 4, 2010

The Kerry-Graham-Lieberman Bill – Was it a Tax too Far?

Monday April 26 was supposed to be the day that the much anticipated Kerry-Graham-Lieberman climate change bill was to be proposed in the Senate. Hopes had gone up that there could be a legislative solution to putting a price on carbon. The carbon markets themselves had responded, pushing up the price of allocations on RGGI […]

Ben Somberg | May 3, 2010

Coal Ash Announcement Now Scheduled for May?

The EPA had projected an April announcement on the next step in regulating coal ash. But April came and went. The EPA now lists “05/2010” as the projected time for publication of a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register.

Daniel Farber | May 3, 2010

The Odds of Failure

Cross posted from Legal Planet. A couple of key observations about the oil rig blowout, based on my work on disaster issues. First, “human error” is a cop-out when you’re dealing with major technology.  It’s not like human fallibility is a surprise.  Training, good management, and smart design should be the responses, not whining after […]

Holly Doremus | May 3, 2010

A Great Case for Worst Case Analysis

Cross-posted from Legal Planet. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is the nation’s look-before-you-leap environmental law, intended to make sure that we understand what environmental problems we might result before we act. To that end, federal agencies must prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) before they take, authorize, or provide funding for actions that may […]

James Goodwin | April 28, 2010

Recent Obama Administration Open Government Milestone; Tearing the Wall of Separation Between the American People and Their Government Isn’t Easy

As the Obama Administration ought to know by now, open government isn’t easy. There are a lot of constituent elements in the wall that separates the American people and their government. Getting open government right requires planning and dedication.  Moreover, resource and legal constraints can thwart even the best-intentioned efforts by government agencies to operate in a […]

Daniel Farber | April 27, 2010

The Libertarian Case for Controlling Climate Change

Cross-posted from Legal Planet. Libertarians are, of course, deeply suspicious of government regulation. This may lead to a reflexive rejection of climate change mitigation.   But Jonathan Adler, who provides a refreshingly distinctive view of environmental law from the Right, argues otherwise.  In a forthcoming article (only the abstract is available on SSRN), he contends […]

Yee Huang | April 26, 2010

Inter-American Spotlight on the United States: Louisiana Residents Take Pollution Case to International Court

This is the April installment of CPRBlog’s series of posts highlighting legal developments in other countries and in international environmental law. Last month the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) granted a hearing to the residents of Mossville, Louisiana, based on their petition asserting that the U.S. government has […]