The Biden administration plans to require power plants in 26 states to further reduce their emissions of nitrogen oxides. The draft plan will introduce a cap-and-trade program so utilities can trade their emission rights—a policy designed to reduce costs. Even so, says Sean Riley of Greenwire, the cost will be $1.1 billion by 2026; benefits,…
Shooting Barred Owls to Save Spotted Owls
On March 4, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (in San Francisco) upheld a policy of the Fish and Wildlife Service that kills barred owls in Oregon. The practice, which goes back to 2013, had been challenged in court by Friends of Animals. An article by Barbara Grzincic of Reuters explains that the northern spotted owl…
‘Temporary Chaos’ as Judge Rejects Biden’s Social Cost of Carbon
Update: On March 16, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals (in New Orleans) reversed the district court’s ruling. That means the chaos was just temporary. It’s back to $51 as the “social cost of carbon” (explained below). In February a Louisiana court rejected the Biden administration’s $51-per-ton estimate of the “social cost of carbon” (really,…
Latest IPCC Report Full of Errors
The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), issued in February, is full of flaws, says Roger Pielke, Jr., professor of environmental studies at the University of Colorado Boulder. The report, called Working Group 2 (or WG2), is supposed to focus on the “Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability” of a changing climate. Pielke…
A Eulogy to Richard Stroup, Free Market Environmentalist
John Baden, long-time friend and colleague of Richard L. Stroup, wrote a eulogy to Rick, who died November 18. (For more about John, look here.) “Rick was one of the first professors I met at Montana State University. Generous with his time and counsel, he greatly influenced my career. And it was a treat to…
Does the State of Oregon Owe $1.1 Billion for Mismanaging Forests?
An extraordinary court case is proceeding in Oregon. In November a jury the state of Oregon should pay $1.1 billion to 13 counties and 151 taxing districts on the grounds that the state has failed to maximize timber harvests as required by a 1941 law. On February 22, the state Court of Appeals heard oral…