Download or read book Federal Climate Change Legislation as If the States Matter written by Robert B. McKinstry and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The growing prospect of comprehensive national climate change legislation raises many important questions about the role of state efforts in a national climate change program. This article identifies the key state/federal issues that should be addressed in any comprehensive national comprehensive climate change legislation. It also provides recommendations for resolving these issues. In addition to a cap-and-trade program and uniform national standards for some sectors, federal climate change legislation should adopt and modify the State Implementation Plan model in the Clean Air Act. That is, states should be given responsibility through State Implementation Plans to achieve specified emissions reductions, including those from electricity demand reduction.
Download or read book State Greenhouse Gas Regulation Federal Climate Change Legislation and the Preemption Sword written by William W. Buzbee and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This article, derived from a paper first given at a 2009 Conference at San Diego Law School, analyzes the rationales for retention of state authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions even if federal climate legislation were enacted that primarily utilizes a cap-and-trade strategy. Climate policy activism and innovation by numerous states and local governments over the past decade in the absence of a federal climate law has been analyzed extensively. This article links the rationales for preservation of state climate regulatory authority to the substantial risks of at least partial regulatory failure faced by any federal law. It is substantially likely that a federal climate change law will prove too lax, be too slow to reduce emission levels, incorrectly predict climate change effects and science, or overestimate compliance costs. If such a law preempted state authority, then the dynamic of state regulatory activity as catalyst for improved or new federal law would be lost. In addition, room for state climate innovations and experimentation could be discouraged or precluded, denying states the ability to tailor their efforts to their state's particular risks and opportunities, and denying everyone benefits of successful innovations. Furthermore, since most greenhouse gas emissions involve co-pollutants or are also regulated for other effects, any attempt at a preemptive federal climate law could be used to preclude other areas of state regulation. Of particular importance is retention of state authority to require polluters to emit less than federally allowed and also retire allowances or charge more in carbon allowances per unit of greenhouse gas emitted. Without this last form of retained authority, then regardless of other language, only the level of a federal cap would matter. After reviewing the preemption choices in a federal climate bill, the article shows how preemption jurisprudence makes ambiguous or even mildly preemptive language regarding retained state authority substantially likely to be given broad effect by agencies or courts, especially in applying “obstacle” preemption doctrine. The article closes by suggesting anti-preemptive statutory criteria and relegation of any preemption claims to a Preemption Review Committee that would base preemption judgments on statutory criteria and record evidence of problematic conflicts.
Download or read book Advancing the Science of Climate Change written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2011-01-10 with total page 526 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Climate change is occurring, is caused largely by human activities, and poses significant risks for-and in many cases is already affecting-a broad range of human and natural systems. The compelling case for these conclusions is provided in Advancing the Science of Climate Change, part of a congressionally requested suite of studies known as America's Climate Choices. While noting that there is always more to learn and that the scientific process is never closed, the book shows that hypotheses about climate change are supported by multiple lines of evidence and have stood firm in the face of serious debate and careful evaluation of alternative explanations. As decision makers respond to these risks, the nation's scientific enterprise can contribute through research that improves understanding of the causes and consequences of climate change and also is useful to decision makers at the local, regional, national, and international levels. The book identifies decisions being made in 12 sectors, ranging from agriculture to transportation, to identify decisions being made in response to climate change. Advancing the Science of Climate Change calls for a single federal entity or program to coordinate a national, multidisciplinary research effort aimed at improving both understanding and responses to climate change. Seven cross-cutting research themes are identified to support this scientific enterprise. In addition, leaders of federal climate research should redouble efforts to deploy a comprehensive climate observing system, improve climate models and other analytical tools, invest in human capital, and improve linkages between research and decisions by forming partnerships with action-oriented programs.
Download or read book Constructing Climate Change Legislation written by Gerald P. Overhauser and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sorting out the appropriate roles of each level of government in addressing climate change is far more complicated than the specific question of whether State climate change programs should be pre-empted. This Paper raises more comprehensive and complex questions that the Committee must consider: what roles are best played by each level of government as we marshal our country's resources to address climate change and how should these roles be reflected in Federal legislation. Many State and local governments have begun to address climate change, as the Subcommittee heard last year in testimony from State and local witnesses.2 Activity by State and local governments has helped reduce greenhouse gas emissions, has helped build a consensus that we need to address climate change nationally, and is helping to develop and test different policies. The country is now at the difficult and familiar stage of transitioning from multiple, often unconnected, State and local climate change programs to a comprehensive, national approach to addressing the global problem of climate change. For a variety of reasons, State and local environmental programs have often led to enactment of Federal environmental legislation.
Download or read book The Role of States in the Era of Climate Change written by Danielle Acadia Hupper and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How does climate change pose a unique policy problem unlike past environmental protection issues? Although public health and environmental concerns have traditionally been an issue of federal domain, many state governments are now taking the lead in climate change legislation. The level of engagement across the fifty states is diverse--some states are addressing the issue head-on while others are resisting action entirely. No two states have had the same experience enacting policy. As a result, state representatives have very different strategic considerations when negotiating national legislation. It is absolutely crucial that national legislators consider the wide variety of state policy responses to climate change if they hope to come to any kind of consensus around future legislation. This paper will start by examining the "old state paradigm" as understood since the emergence of the environmental movement in the late 1960s, followed by a more recent history of the states' evolving role in climate policy and the development of the "new state paradigm." This section will also discuss the assumptions within the "old state paradigm" that are challenged by these new state programs. Second, it will look at the great diversity of state policy developments that have come out of the "new state paradigm" and the unique strategic considerations facing state officials when negotiating national policy. Finally, this paper will attempt to distill lessons from failed national legislation that can guide future policy design.
Download or read book How Our Laws are Made written by John V. Sullivan and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 72 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States written by U.S. Global Change Research Program and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2009-08-24 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Summarizes the science of climate change and impacts on the United States, for the public and policymakers.
Download or read book The Constitutionality of Federal Climate Change Legislation written by Alastair R. Lucas and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 38 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Combating Climate Change with Section 115 of the Clean Air Act written by Michael Burger and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2020-10-15 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Editor Michael Burger brings together a comprehensive assessment of how one statutory provision - Section 115 of the Clean Air Act, "International Air Pollution" - provides the executive branch of the U.S. government with the authority, procedures, and mechanisms to work with the states and private sector to take national climate action. This collaborative effort reflects the most current thinking on Section 115 and how it relates to the Paris Agreement , the U.S. Supreme Court, and U.S. politics. The contributors dive deep into the key implementation issues EPA, the states and industry would need to address.Federal policymakers in a new presidential administration could use this book as a foundation for developing a national policy regulating greenhouse gas emissions. The book also provides detailed law and policy analyses for environmental lawyers and policy professionals, key to understanding the practice of climate law and policy in the U.S.
Download or read book Greenhouse Governance written by Barry G. Rabe and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2010-09-01 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Public deliberation over climate change has traditionally been dominated by the natural and physical sciences. Is the planet warming? To what degree, and is mankind responsible? How big a problem is this, really? But concurrent with these debates is the question of what should be done. Indeed, what can be done? Issues of governance, including the political feasibility of certain policies and their capacity for implementation, have received short shrift in the conversation. But they absolutely must be addressed as we respond to this unprecedented challenge. Greenhouse Governance brings a much-needed public policy mindset to discussion of climate change in America. Greenhouse Governance features a number of America's preeminent public policy scholars, examining some aspect of governance and climate change. They analyze the state and influence of American public opinion on climate change as well as federalism and intergovernmental relations, which prove especially important since state and local governments have taken a more active role than originally expected. Specific policy issues examined include renewable electricity standards, mandating greater vehicle fuel economy, the "adaptation vs. mitigation" debate, emissions trading, and carbon taxes. The contributors do consider the scientific and economic questions of climate policy but place special emphasis on political and managerial issues. They analyze the role of key American government institutions including the courts, Congress, and regulatory agencies. The final two chapters put the discussion into an international context, looking at climate governance challenges in North America, relations with the European Union, and possible models for international governance. Contributors include Christopher Borick, Muhlenberg College; Martha Derthick, University of Virginia; Kirsten Engel, University of Arizona; Marc Landy, Boston College; Pietro Nivola, Brookings Institution; P
Download or read book Federalism and the Tug of War Within written by Erin Ryan and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2011 with total page 429 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As environmental, national security, and technological challenges push American law into ever more inter-jurisdictional territory, this book proposes a model of 'Balanced Federalism' that mediates between competing federalism values and provides greater guidance for regulatory decision-making.
Download or read book Adapting Water Federalism to Climate Change Impacts written by Robin Kundis Craig and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Climate change regulation has proven a fertile ground for debates on federalism. To date, however, these debates have concentrated on climate change mitigation and the “proper” roles of the states and the federal government in regulating to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This Article posits that climate change adaptation also has federalism implications for environmental regulation and natural resources management. In particular, the federal and state governments have always asserted overlapping - and sometimes conflicting - interests in water, and, as a result, water regulation and management have always been subject to an uneasy federalism balancing. For example, water allocation and water rights are generally considered issues of state law - but if the water crosses state lines, or state regulation affects navigation, the federal government asserts a superior and preemptive role. In between these endpoints, the federal Clean Water Act adopted an intricately structured cooperative federalism that imposes certain minimum federal requirements for water quality but allows states to choose water quality goals, while aquatic species protection remains a largely unstructured mishmash of overlapping state and federal interests and authorities. In light of existing shortages of water and the imminent need to adapt to climate change impacts on water resources, reconsidering the proper federalism balance in water resources management is inevitable, as several congressional bills attest. Specifically, the traditional assumption of state superiority over matters of water allocation has come into question in light of the intimate connections between water availability and national energy policy, national food security, and interstate conflicts. This Article explores the potential for climate change and the increasing need to adapt to its impacts on water to alter traditional notions of water federalism, concluding that an increased federal role in water management is likely but could take many forms, some more attune to the multiple interests in water than others.
Download or read book Climate Change Law written by Daniel A. Farber and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Softbound - New, softbound print book.
Download or read book Bootleggers Baptists written by Adam Smith and published by Cato Institute. This book was released on 2014-09-07 with total page 215 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Bootleggers & Baptists: How Economic Forces and Moral Persuasion Interact to Shape Regulatory Politics, economists Bruce Yandle and Adam Smith explain how money and morality are often combined in politics to produce arbitrary regulations benefiting cronies, while constraining productive economic activities by the general public. Yandle’s theory asserts that regulatory “bootleggers” are parties taking political action in pursuit of economic gain. Regulatory “Baptists” are parties participating in group action driven by an avowed higher moral purpose or desire to serve the public interest. By examining major regulatory activities including Obamacare, the recent financial crisis bailouts, climate change legislation, and rules governing “sinful” substances, Bootleggers & Baptists reveals that lasting regulations require moral and financial advocacy to survive the American political process. With countless regulatory initiatives on the horizon, this book is a must-read for all who are concern about over-regulation and government intrusion in our daily lives.
Download or read book Review of the Draft Fourth National Climate Assessment written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2018-06-18 with total page 207 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Climate change poses many challenges that affect society and the natural world. With these challenges, however, come opportunities to respond. By taking steps to adapt to and mitigate climate change, the risks to society and the impacts of continued climate change can be lessened. The National Climate Assessment, coordinated by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, is a mandated report intended to inform response decisions. Required to be developed every four years, these reports provide the most comprehensive and up-to-date evaluation of climate change impacts available for the United States, making them a unique and important climate change document. The draft Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4) report reviewed here addresses a wide range of topics of high importance to the United States and society more broadly, extending from human health and community well-being, to the built environment, to businesses and economies, to ecosystems and natural resources. This report evaluates the draft NCA4 to determine if it meets the requirements of the federal mandate, whether it provides accurate information grounded in the scientific literature, and whether it effectively communicates climate science, impacts, and responses for general audiences including the public, decision makers, and other stakeholders.
Download or read book America s Climate Choices written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2011-06-11 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Climate change is occurring. It is very likely caused by the emission of greenhouse gases from human activities, and poses significant risks for a range of human and natural systems. And these emissions continue to increase, which will result in further change and greater risks. America's Climate Choices makes the case that the environmental, economic, and humanitarian risks posed by climate change indicate a pressing need for substantial action now to limit the magnitude of climate change and to prepare for adapting to its impacts. Although there is some uncertainty about future risk, acting now will reduce the risks posed by climate change and the pressure to make larger, more rapid, and potentially more expensive reductions later. Most actions taken to reduce vulnerability to climate change impacts are common sense investments that will offer protection against natural climate variations and extreme events. In addition, crucial investment decisions made now about equipment and infrastructure can "lock in" commitments to greenhouse gas emissions for decades to come. Finally, while it may be possible to scale back or reverse many responses to climate change, it is difficult or impossible to "undo" climate change, once manifested. Current efforts of local, state, and private-sector actors are important, but not likely to yield progress comparable to what could be achieved with the addition of strong federal policies that establish coherent national goals and incentives, and that promote strong U.S. engagement in international-level response efforts. The inherent complexities and uncertainties of climate change are best met by applying an iterative risk management framework and making efforts to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions; prepare for adapting to impacts; invest in scientific research, technology development, and information systems; and facilitate engagement between scientific and technical experts and the many types of stakeholders making America's climate choices.
Download or read book Reconfiguring Global Climate Governance in North America written by Marcela Lopez-Vallejo and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-04-08 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Global climate governance has presented problems that have led to failures, yet it has also opened the door to new transregional governance schemes, especially in North America. This book introduces an environmental dimension into the concept of governance. Almost fifteen years after the climate global governance concept emerged, results worldwide have not been as favorable as expected. This book details previous discussions about the concept of global climate governance and its limits. It highlights how the Kyoto Protocol has a limited design taking into account a national approach to global, regional, and transnational problems, had no obligatory mechanisms for implementation and explains the emergence of new polluters not committed under it such as China and India. Furthermore this book explores other levels of authority such as regional institutions - the North American agreement on trade (NAFTA) and on environment (NAAEC), as well as the regional energy working group (NAEWG). The author puts forward a theoretical proposal for re-territorialization and coordination of policies for climate change into new forms of articulating interests in what she terms transnational green economic regions (TGERs) and tests this on two case studies - the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) and the Western Climate Initiative (WCI). This study presents the challenges and opportunities of a transregional approach in North America.
