“With this change, we’re back to the ‘shoot, shovel, and shut up’ status quo.” (PERC Tweet). A federal district court in California has vacated Trump-administration rules designed to make the Endangered Species Act more fair and effective. The most important rule dealt with the treatment of threatened species, which are species that are not yet…
Tag: Federal Management
Biden’s Plans for Infrastructure Ring Hollow, Thanks to New NEPA Rules
President Biden is tightening up the environmental reviews for major projects—thus weakening the infrastructure act he appears to be so proud of. The White House Council of Environmental Quality has just issued new rules for assessing major projects under the 1969 NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act). The rules end President Trump’s relaxation of regulation and…
Plea: Don’t Force the Post Office into an Electric-Vehicle Boondoggle
“The Postal Service should not be a test dummy for the administration’s speculative goals and it is an insult to taxpayers to treat it this way.” So writes Guy Caruso on RealClearEnergy. Here’s what’s happening: The Biden administration is trying to persuade the Postal Service (USPS) to invest in more electric vehicles. In March the…
Interior Dept. Speeds Approval of Energy Projects—Wind and Solar, That Is
There’s no slow-walking of renewable energy projects at the Bureau of Land Management, E & E News tells us. “The Biden administration says it’s set to approve dozens of commercial-scale solar, wind and geothermal power projects capable of producing enough electricity to power millions of homes by the end of 2025. “The Interior Department, in…
Yosemite and the ‘Balance of Nature’ Myth
The following photographic essay illustrates the changing landscape at California’s Yosemite Valley and undermines the myth of a static “balance of nature.” The author, Shawn Regan, is vice president of research at the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC). The photograph above shows Yosemite Valley in 1899 (left) and today (right). If it seems like…
‘Negligible’ Fishermen Sue to Stop New England Wind Project
The long-planned Vineyard Wind 1 Project, to be located south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket islands off the shore of Massachusetts, has hit turbulence again. In December, an arm of the Texas Public Policy Foundation sued the federal government on grounds that it was wrong to approve the project. The foundation is representing six fishing…