In the News

The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear oral argument in a case challenging the EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants. Richard L. Revesz, a professor at New York University School of Law, argues the court should dismiss the case because there is no regulation in place and none that would be revived because of anything the court might do.

One year after launching a reevaluation of its pipeline approval process, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) could be ready to adopt critical reforms. The result could be a more sustainable, reliable U.S. energy system.

Heat exposure harms workers who labor outside, such as agricultural and construction workers, and those in high-heat indoor environments, such as warehouse employees, restaurant workers, and many others. Learning from workers and organizers with on-the-ground experience will enable OSHA to craft a more effective heat standard.

Government purchasing power has enormous potential to promote cleaner technologies. But how can agencies weigh the social benefits of procurement options against their up-front costs? By using the social cost of greenhouse gases, writes Andy Stawasz.

In regulatory policy, as in life, calculating a potential action’s costs is an important step in determining whether to take that action. Identifying these costs without giving them a place in the decisionmaking, however, would be irrational, and undermines the purpose of calculating the costs in the first place. And yet this is precisely the approach the Department of the Interior (Interior) has taken in analyzing recent proposals to lease public lands and waters for fossil fuel development.

As the Federal Transit Administration and its partners roll out electric transit across the country, the agency should ensure that its Title VI guidelines for funding recipients explicitly require nondiscrimination in the distribution and routing of such clean vehicles. FTA should also implement the appropriate reporting requirements to effectively monitor the distribution of electric vehicles and their air quality benefits. These recommendations are discussed in more detail in our comments to the agency.

Two pending lawsuits — led respectively by Louisiana’s Jeff Landry and Missouri’s Eric Schmitt — not only mount an unprecedented and dangerous attack on science, but also bungle bedrock legal principles. The lawsuits challenge the federal interagency working group’s ongoing assessment of the social cost of carbon, which estimates the incremental cost to society of a unit of greenhouse gas emissions.

The Regulatory Review is pleased to highlight our top regulatory essays of 2021 authored by a select number of our many expert contributors. Pieces written by Policy Integrity's Justin Gundlach, Peter Howard, and Richard Revesz are featured in the list.

A federal court in Louisiana heard oral argument Dec. 7 in a case brought by Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry (R) that is gaining national attention. The case seeks to prevent federal agencies from considering scientific estimates of climate change impacts. It could have profound consequences, but not the ones Landry suggests. While Landry’s lawsuit is cloaked in hyperbole about federal takeovers and taxes, no such risks exist. But the suit does threaten to upset settled, bipartisan principles of administrative law.

Policy Integrity’s comments make two categories of recommendations: (1) improving public participation, and (2) improving analysis.