Category
Policy
Viewing page 55 of 57
-
Grasping at Straws: A flimsy argument to attack upcoming EPA regulation of greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants
Recently, a number of industry lawyers have been grasping at straws in an attempt to tell EPA it can’t regulate the most significant source of U.S. domestic greenhouse gases — emissions from existing coal-fired power plants – under the Clean Air Act. Even last week, Sidley Austin attorney Roger Martella’s…
-
EPA’s Proposed Rule for Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Existing Power Plants is a Good Opening Bid
Nearly a year ago, the Obama Administration released the President’s Climate Action Plan reaffirming the U.S. commitment to reducing the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent from 2005 levels by 2020, and 80 percent by 2050. This week, EPA proposed the second pillar in that plan, a carbon pollution…
-
Regulation Is Needed: Making “Best” Practices Standard Practice
The recent release of the Administration’s comprehensive strategy for reducing methane emissions raises the question of how best to reduce methane emissions, especially from the oil and gas sector. Can voluntary programs really lead to the methane reductions we need, or are mandatory regulatory programs necessary? While voluntary programs can…
-
Regulation Works: How science, advocacy and good regulations combined to force a massive reduction in power plant pollution and public health impacts
In 1996, Clean Air Task Force was founded to launch an effort to clean up emissions from coal-fired power plants. Our primary goal was to massively slash their emissions of mercury, sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and carbon dioxide (CO2). So CATF’s first step was to document the impacts…
-
Study Shows EPA Underestimates Methane Emissions from Natural Gas Production and Demonstrates Need for Tough National Standards
A recently published article (Brandt et al.) assessed methane leakage rates from the natural gas sector and concluded that “official inventories consistently underestimate actual CH4 emissions, with the [natural gas] and oil sectors as important contributors…” The report stacks up 20 years of research—with different scales and seemingly different findings—along…
-
First Things First: Capping Corn-Based Biofuel Production
When Congress dramatically expanded the Renewable Fuel Standard in 2007, supporters of the revised RFS—which is supposed to push 36 billion gallons of biofuel into the US fuel market by 2022—touted the program as a solution to our overdependence on foreign oil, a cure for flagging rural economies, and a…
-
Obama’s Second Term Climate Priorities
In recent statements, President Obama has ranked addressing climate change one of his top three priorities for his second term. Win, place or show, the President has already offered up a two-track course forward: first, take immediate action on near-term greenhouse gas emission reductions; and, second, simultaneously launch a conversation…
-
The Time is Now
Happy Holiday Season! As CATF advocates look forward to the coming year, we are hard pressed to think of better near term opportunities for climate pollution control than those presented by three EPA regulatory processes – in each case, the Agency has until now put down only one foot. We…
