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…
Tag: Regulation
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…
California: The Ecotopia that Failed
Joel Kotkin discusses California on RealClearEnergy: “One is often at a loss to explain California to people from other planets—like, say, earth.” The problem: “This is a state that issues mandates for electrification of everything while reducing its generating capacity. It blames devastating fires on climate change, without taking the blame for forestry practices that…
The Irony of Solar: Dealing with Its Waste Is a Headache
Enthusiasts for solar energy are beginning to realize that solar panels don’t last forever. In fact, says Maddie Stone writing in Grist, already panels are being decommissioned. They’re supposed to last about 25 years, but if they are damaged in a storm, say, they have to be removed much sooner. So what to do with…