Common Resources

Legal Risks in EPA’s Existing Source Proposal

EPA’s existing source proposal is the cornerstone of the administration’s climate policy and, once finalized next year, will be the most signifcant federal climate policy move to date. Even relatively minor EPA rules face legal challenge from industry, environmental groups, or both. This rule’s significance means it will be no exception. Legal challenges will not come until the […]

Can Natural Gas Deliver the Goods to Obama’s Carbon Policy?

The success of President Obama’s new plans for reducing carbon emissions from power plants will rest heavily on the natural gas industry. The key building block of that plan is to ramp up the use of natural gas. Before the shale gas revolution natural gas prices were a good deal higher than they are today. But shale […]

Notes on Today’s Existing Source Rule

Today, EPA announced proposed performance standards for existing power plants under the Clean Air Act (also known as the existing source performance standards, or ESPS). Attention to the proposal is deservedly high, and it’s a monster of a rule (645 pages, at least in this unformatted version). That means general overviews are already out, and […]

5 Things to Watch for in Monday’s ESPS Proposal

On Monday, President Obama is set to announce proposed regulations limiting emissions from the existing fleet of power plants. These existing source performance standards or ESPS will be the most important part of the administration’s climate policy and, as my colleague Dallas Burtraw likes to point out, the most significant action any President will have […]

Making Sense of the Chamber’s Study of Coming Climate Rules

On Monday, EPA is set to release proposed new rules limiting carbon emissions from existing power plants. Along with many others, we at RFF have studied the potential implications of this policy for the economy and the environment for some time. While Monday’s release is only a proposal, it will for the first time give […]

Emissions Trading Isn’t Dead, But It’s Not Out of the Hospital Either

The Supreme Court’s recent decision in EPA v. EME Homer City was a big victory for the agency, substantially (though not completely and finally) clearing the way for cap-and-trade programs that had been in legal limbo for the better part of a decade. The DC Circuit decision in the case that SCOTUS overturned prompted me to declare the […]

Preserving Flexibility

Decisions EPA is making today will have a major impact on the cost-effectiveness of its planned move to regulate carbon emissions from existing power plants. The agency has proposed and will soon finalize performance standards for new power plants. These new-source standards are a prerequisite for the planned existing-source standards, but are ostensibly otherwise unrelated […]

Research Questions for the Midterm CAFE Review: The Fuel Efficiency Gap

This is the second in a series of blog posts by RFF’s transportation team that will address some of the key research questions for the midterm CAFE review. As the first post in this series described, US standards for passenger vehicle fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions are slated to tighten steeply. By 2025, the […]

Research Questions for the Midterm CAFE Review

Our country is about to enter the most important period this decade for the future of transportation and its associated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Fuel economy and GHG standards for both light-duty vehicles and heavier trucks are slated to tighten, reducing not only oil use but also GHG emissions. There is significant uncertainty about how […]

Giving Too Much Away?

The Supreme Court heard arguments this morning in Utility Air Regulatory Group v. EPA, a suit challenging the agency’s authority to address greenhouse gas emissions using the Clean Air Act’s PSD permitting program. I have not followed the case closely, and hesitate to make any predictions based on comments at oral arguments anyway. However, one comment […]