October 2, 2015
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Flaws in the Federal Coal Program: New Report
Coal mining on federal lands accounts for more than 40 percent of all coal produced in the United States. But outdated policies, longstanding loopholes, and prevalent environmental externalities keep American taxpayers from receiving their fair share of value from federal coal leases. Our new report, Reconsidering Coal’s Fair Market Value, exposes the flaws in the coal leasing system, and highlights high-priority changes that the Department of the Interior (DOI) has the statutory authority to make. The report, which we recently submitted to DOI, offers guidance on designing new minimum bids and royalty rates that reflect the social and environmental costs of coal extraction.
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In the News: Energy Subsidies, Ozone Rule
Jeb Bush recently suggested that the U.S. government should eliminate all energy subsidies. In a recent Wall Street Journal article, Richard Revesz agreed, with a caveat. Revesz’s piece, Let’s Cut All Energy Subsidies and Start Taxing Pollution argues that eliminating federal energy subsidies is sensible but must be coupled with a mechanism, such as taxes, to eliminate the subsidy that comes from pollution externalities. Otherwise, a subsidy of a different kind will remain: one paid not with taxpayer money but with their health and well-being. Revesz and Michael Livermore also authored a new piece in The Hill, analyzing the economics of the EPA’s new ozone standard. “Social welfare would almost certainly be higher with an even tighter ozone standard,” they write.
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On the Docket: “A Path Forward on Energy Policy”
On October 27, Policy Integrity will host “A Path Forward on Energy Policy,” a daylong conference focusing on the future of American energy policy. Speakers will include Bob Inglis, former Congressman from South Carolina; Henry Waxman, former Congressman from California; Richard Kauffman, New York State Director of Energy and Finance; and many other high-profile figures from the public and private sectors. Panels will include “Partisanship and Energy Policy,” “States Reshaping the Energy Landscape,” and “Carbon Pricing in New Contexts.” Continuing Legal Education credit will be available. Space is limited; please RSVP here.
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California Climate Policy Event
As part of Climate Week, Policy Integrity hosted California Governor Jerry Brown’s senior policy advisor, Ken Alex, for an intimate conversation with NYU students about California’s ambitious environmental agenda and its growing role in international climate change policy. Alex discussed California’s historic Under 2 MOU agreement, which Governor Brown signed along with leaders from several states and regions around the world. The agreement allows California and other subnational governments to play a more active role in international climate negotiations. The signatories committed to either reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 to 95 percent below 1990 levels by 2050 or achieve a per-capita annual emission target of less than 2 metric tons by 2050.
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Spotlight: Lucy Joffe
Lucy Joffe is an alumnus of the NYU School of Law and Policy Integrity’s Regulatory Policy Clinic. Following graduation, she joined the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development’s legal honors program. In February 2015, Joffe became the Executive Director for Regulatory Compliance at the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development. In this role, she is responsible for ensuring the agency’s compliance with a range of statutory, regulatory, and programmatic requirements. “Policy Integrity provided me with the knowledge and framework to participate in the rulemaking process,” said Joffe. “I left prepared to critically evaluate proposed rules, regulations, and the administrative law challenges I would encounter at different levels of the process.”