May 31, 2019 Newsletter

Revesz Discusses Dangerous EPA Methodology Change

The Environmental Protection Agency is considering methodology changes that would conceal many of the health benefits of reducing particulate matter, making it easier to weaken life-saving environmental rules. Richard Revesz analyzed these moves in a new piece for Slate, discussing the administration’s “pivot from a retail to a wholesale attack on environmental standards.” Revesz also spoke to the New York Times about the change, noting that particulate matter leads to a large number of premature deaths. He called the change a “monumental departure” from bipartisan precedent that will have an enormous impact on public health.

Vanity Fair and Newsweek also highlighted Revesz’s comments. A recent academic article Revesz co-authored with Kimberly Castle examines the robust benefits of particulate matter reduction and their crucial role in regulatory cost-benefit analysis.

Hein Details Trump Administration’s Losing Battle for Fossil Fuels

In her op-ed in The Hill, Jayni Hein takes a close look at the Trump administration’s struggles to defend its controversial resource extraction efforts in court. “These decisions amount to a stunning defeat of the ‘energy dominance’ agenda,” she writes, “and reveal that the administration cannot operate outside the bounds of the law.” Hein’s op-ed looks at a few of the high-profile court losses that have contributed to the administration’s 3-38 record in deregulatory cases.

Livermore Testifies on Mercury Standards

Policy Integrity Senior Advisor Michael Livermore testified in a May 21 House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on EPA mercury standards, focusing on the economic failings of the Trump administration’s withdrawal of the “appropriate and necessary” finding that undergirds the standards. E&E News discussed Livermore’s remarks in its coverage of the hearing. His full testimony is available here.

Nobel Prize Citation

In William Nordhaus’s newly published acceptance essay for the Nobel Prize in Economics, he discusses recent research from our Economics Director Peter Howard and co-author Thomas Sterner. Nordhaus received the Nobel Prize for his work on climate economics and the social cost of carbon. Howard and Sterner’s meta-analysis of climate damage estimates finds damages significantly higher than Nordhaus’s DICE model.

Faulty Rollback of Vehicle Emissions Standards

EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are proposing to weaken key fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions standards for future car models. In October and December, we highlighted our concerns with some of the economic analysis supporting the proposal. Our newest comments discuss NERA Economic Consulting’s response to our criticism. We explain how NERA frequently misstates or fails to address many of our points and continues to provide inaccurate analysis.

PJM Moves to Improve Pricing in Reserve Market

PJM, the organization that manages wholesale electricity and the transmission grid in 13 eastern states, has proposed to revise its operating reserve market. The proposal would alter the pricing mechanism for resources that are available to respond to unexpected changes in energy supply and demand. We submitted comments to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission generally supporting PJM’s proposal while making suggestions to better address reserve pricing and efficiency.

Justin Gundlach Joins Policy Integrity

Attorney Justin Gundlach has become the newest member of the Policy Integrity team, bringing his extensive experience working on state-level energy and climate policy. Before joining Policy Integrity, Gundlach was a member of the Policy Development team at the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and a staff attorney at the Sabin Center Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School.

More from This Month

We also submitted comments on: