They want to overturn capitalism. That is the import of an article by H. Sterling Burnett on the Heartland.org site. His article, “Climate Alarmists Call for ‘Eco-Dictatorship,’” provides examples from leading figures. First, he quotes Christiana Figueres in 2015, when she was executive secretary of the U.N.’s Framework Convention on Climate Change “‘This is the…
Tag: Regulation
What Exactly Will the SEC Do on Climate Change?
Speculation is growing about how the SEC, under the new chair, Gary Gensler, will address climate change. In the Insurance Journal, Ben Bain reports on the SEC’s possible actions: “The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission may make corporations reveal more about climate risks in key regulatory filings, a push that Wall Street and the biggest…
The Grim Debate over Deaths from Air Pollution
Some very smart people are trying to figure out whether, where, and to what extent air pollution is a killer. Most recently, Tyler Cowen wrote in Marginal Revolution about a new study claiming that 10.2 million people die from pollution by fine particulates (particles 2.5 microns or lower) each year. Sixty-two percent of those premature…
White Moose and Public Sacrifice
What ethical and legal claims can religion can make on resources and the property of others who do not share the faith? We begin with hunting. Every hunting season brings outrage and lament at the news that a hunter has killed a “white moose.” The animal killed could be elk, deer, or any animal that…
‘An Extraordinary Act of Executive Fiat’
President Biden’s canceling the Keystone XL pipeline is “an extraordinary act of executive fiat that has few peacetime precedents in American history,” writes David Blackmon in Forbes. Added to its audacity is the disdain for the workers who have lost their jobs or will never get them. “In a statement reminiscent of Barack Obama’s famous…
The Right and the Left Agree: It Won’t Be Easy for Biden to Re-regulate
Both supporters of Joe Biden and his critics indicate it will be hard to overturn many of Donald Trump’s environmental deregulatory moves. They offer different reasons, however. Sterling Burnett, writing in Climate Change Weekly, says Trump created new rules for the EPA that make quick re-regulation almost impossible. In contrast, the Biden team is emphasizing Trump’s…
Some Questions about ‘Environmental’ Investing
There’s an eerie resemblance between today’s ESG (environmental, social, and governance) investing and the Porter Hypothesis, an earlier claim about how regulation can lead to profits. (Its architect, Michael Porter, Harvard business professor, is pictured here.) First, some definitions: ESG investing means investors choose companies that meet certain non-financial criteria. So, in the environmental area…