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Thomas McGarity | June 30, 2015

The Supreme Court Gives Power Plants a Mercury Break

Yesterday, the Supreme Court in Michigan v. EPA threw out EPA’s regulations protecting the American public from mercury and other hazardous emissions of power plants. In another instance of judicial activism by the Roberts court, the majority refused to defer to EPA’s decision to ignore costs in deciding whether to regulate power plant emissions. The […]

Lisa Heinzerling | June 30, 2015

Michigan v. EPA: Costs Matter, But Everything Else Is Up For Grabs

In Michigan v. EPA, the Supreme Court reviewed the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to regulate power plants under section 112 of the Clean Air Act. Section 112 is the provision regulating toxic air pollutants, such as mercury. The question before the Court was whether EPA reasonably interpreted the Clean Air Act to allow EPA to decline […]

Thomas McGarity | June 29, 2015

Supreme Court’s Judicial Activism Leaves Americans Vulnerable to Mercury Pollution

In a sweeping display of judicial activism the Supreme Court has made it much harder for the EPA to protect Americans from the dangers of exposure to mercury emissions. The Supreme Court today tossed out EPA’s regulations protecting the American public from mercury and other hazardous emissions of power plants.  Justice Scalia refused to defer […]

Lisa Heinzerling | June 26, 2015

King v. Burwell and EPA’s Climate Rules

The Supreme Court’s decision in King v. Burwell is, of course, most important for its central holding that the Affordable Care Act’s federal subsidies are available even on federally established health exchanges. The decision preserves health insurance subsidies for millions of people who have begun to benefit from them and avoids the ridiculous spectacle of taking the […]

Evan Isaacson | June 24, 2015

NY’s Bay TMDL Progress Report: Ignoring a Worthwhile Investment

TMDL.  The first four posts cover the region as a whole, and then Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland.  Future posts will explore the progress of the remaining three jurisdictions.                 So far, we have evaluated progress of the three core jurisdictions in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed in reducing nutrient and […]

Evan Isaacson | June 22, 2015

Maryland’s Bay TMDL Report: A Tale of Two States

Editors’ Note:  This is the fourth in a series of posts on measuring progress toward the 2017 interim goal of the Bay TMDL.  The first three posts cover the region as a whole, and then Pennsylvania and Virginia. Future posts will explore the progress of the remaining four jurisdictions.              […]

Robert Verchick | June 18, 2015

Why the Climate Movement Needs a Green Pope, and a Super Voucher

ROME—On my first visit to Vatican City, before my meeting with Michelangelo, I greeted the Pope via the city’s ubiquitous souvenir stands. I love this stuff. You can try on the “Papa Francisco” kitchen apron and imagine the pontiff’s smile beaming over your Spaghetti Bolognese. Or gently joggle the pate of a Pope Francis bobble-head. […]

Evan Isaacson | June 17, 2015

PA’s Dismal TMDL Report: An Opportunity for Change

We recently explored how Virginia’s progress toward meeting the 2017 interim goal for the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (Bay TMDL) is mostly the product of decades’ old financial commitments.  So, we might hope to see much of the same from Pennsylvania, a fellow member of the Chesapeake Bay Commission since 1985.  Unfortunately, despite […]

Evan Isaacson | June 17, 2015

Virginia’s Bay TMDL Progress Report: A Complete Picture

This is the second in a series of posts to explore progress in cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay, as reflected in recent data from the Chesapeake Bay Program’s elaborate computer model of the Bay, which accounts for what the states are actually doing to reduce pollution. Read the first post, taking a look at the […]