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Obama on regulatory review

Today, President Obama penned an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal demonstrating his commitment to the health and safety of the American public but also to protecting those things in ways that make economic sense.

In a statement in response to the president’s piece Dean Richard Revesz said, “The environment and the economy are not at odds—on the contrary, the success of each one is linked to the well-being of the other. By stating this case, the President renewed hope for a better way of safeguarding both.”

The president signed a new Executive Order to begin to bring the review of regulations into the 21st century. We think progressives should embrace these new directives and use them to promote stronger protections. As we say in our statement this move “provides a blueprint for adopting beneficial regulations that protect the well-being of Americans while at the same time pursuing policies that promote economic growth and the creation of jobs.”

In a memo, we break down some of the legal specifics of the new order.

For more on our work on regulatory review, here are some links:

Much of our work is based on the book, Retaking Rationality: How Cost-Benefit Analysis Can Better Protect the Environment and Our Health (Oxford University Press, 2008)

In the fall of 2008, we published The Cost-Benefit Compass: Navigating the Perfect Storm of Economic, Environmental, and Energy Challenges which gave a sense for how we thought the Obama administration could use cost-benefit analysis to address three great interrelated challenges facing the country.

Then in November of that year, we wrote Fixing Regulatory Review: Recommendations for the Next Administration which outlines our suggestions for ammendments to the Executive Order governing cost-benefit analysis.

In July, 2010, we wrote Scrutinizing Inaction for the Huffington Post where we suggest an ammendment to regulatory review rules that would provide an entry point for suggesting protections where there currently are none.