The “Inflation Reduction Act” is a political win on climate change for the Democrats, says James E. Hanley, but “on the actual policy level, the gains appear to be much more marginal than revolutionary.” Writing for the American Institute for Economic Research, the policy analyst says: “[M]any of these policies are continuations of old policies, rather…
An Arkansas City Dumped Recyclables into a Landfill—and Pretended It Didn’t
A judge has ordered the city of Fort Smith, Arkansas, to pay nearly $750,000 in citizen restitution for dumping into a landfill 95 percent of the materials that residents thought would be recycled. The city deceived its residents, the decision said, by continuing to accept waste from recycling bins, using trucks that advertised themselves as…
How to Protect Eagles from Wind Turbines
A paper by Molly Espey and Eamon Espey says that tradable permits can reduce the killing of eagles and other birds by wind turbines. “By effectively creating a market for eagle take, wind energy producers would be forced to consider the marginal cost of killing an eagle and adjust their behavior accordingly, ” say the…
On Speeding Up Environmental Reviews, Joe Manchin May Have Lost Out
To support the “Inflation Reduction Act” that just cleared the Senate on a party vote, Senator Joe Manchin agreed to a “side deal.” According to the Washington Post that deal would streamline the permitting process for major energy projects, including a West Virginia gas pipeline. Among other things it would set a two-year maximum limit…