Common Resources

Federal Climate Regulation Beyond the Clean Air Act

After several comprehensive climate regulation bills stalled in the 111th Congress, EPA has moved to regulate CO2 emissions under its Clean Air Act (CAA) authority. But climate legislation would have preempted CAA carbon regulation, and any future law would likely require a similar compromise. It might require more - other statutes can provide regulatory authority […]

Courts Uphold EPA Greenhouse Gas Regulation

The DC Circuit released its opinion today in Coalition for Responsible Regulation v. EPA (and related, consolidated cases) - all challenges to EPA’s regulation of greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. All four elements of EPA’s regulatory program that were challenged survived intact. This is big news, though not unexpected. Most observers thought the challenges […]

EU Rejects 30% Emissions Cut: The Good And Bad News

The European Parliament failed to get the votes needed to raise Europe’s carbon emissions reduction target from 20 percent to 30 percent from 1990 levels by 2020. With Poland – Europe’s biggest coal user- taking over the EU presidency for the next six months and opposed to the increase in carbon emissions cuts, it is […]

Scoring U.S. Federal Government Emissions Reductions

The United States government last week released an inventory of federal greenhouse gas emissions, something that will become an annual practice proposed by the Obama administration. The administration has promised to cut federal emissions 28 percent by 2020 from 2008 levels– saving the government $11 billion. The government currently spends 1.5 percent of the country’s […]

The Challenge Of Reducing Carbon Emissions In China

The United States is not the only country that made an emissions reduction pledge in Cancun without an implementation plan already in place. China pledged to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions intensity (emissions per unit of gross domestic product) 40-45% by 2020. Although this pledge arguably falls within China’s business-as-usual emissions pathway, the Chinese government […]

EPA Calls for Corporate Identifiers on GHG Disclosure

Earlier this week, the EPA proposed expanding its greenhouse gas (GHG) observation net by adding additional emissions sources to its mandatory GHG reporting system. If the proposal is enacted the system, which required some 31 industrial sectors to begin tracking and reporting their GHG output earlier this year, would expand to cover oil and natural […]

Why CAIR Matters for GHGs

Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are the sexy pollutant. “Traditional” pollutants like sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrous oxides (NOx) get less attention, with media, legal, research, and to a lesser extent regulatory attention devoted to GHGs. These pollutants have much greater health impacts than GHGs, however. Moreover, how the EPA regulates them under the Clean Air Act (CAA) might shed […]

The EPA and GHGs: Sometimes the Little Things Matter Most

Major pieces of legislation from the Hill, blockbuster rulemakings, and Supreme Court cases get all the policy headlines. Sometimes, though, small things can make just as much of an impact. Last week’s completion by the EPA of a proposed revision to an internal memo —the Johnson Memorandum—could be an example of this, though it looks like […]

Regulating GHGs: Can the EPA Dodge a Train?

What if Congress can’t pass climate legislation? Many have pointed to the existing Clean Air Act (CAA) as a source of authority for the president to act (through the EPA) without waiting for Congress. Some have further suggested that CAA regulation of greenhouse gases (GHGs) wouldn’t be a bad second option—these analyses suggest we might […]

The EISA Cellulosic Ethanol Mandate: Meeting Energy Security and Emissions Reductions Goals

According to RFF visiting scholar Arthur Fraas and economist Robert Johansson, the push for American-made biofuels may conflict under certain conditions with strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. While policymakers may treat increasing energy security and lowering greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as complementary goals, in fact there are cases where they may conflict. One important […]