In a landmark decision for property rights law, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled on Wednesday that alleged violations of the Clean Water Act are not precluded from judicial review. The decision will allow an Idaho couple to challenge a ruling from the Environmental Protection Agency that sought to fine the couple up to $75,000 per day for a supposed CWA violation. The case involved an Idaho couple, Chantell and Michael Sackett, who were hit with massive fines for a construction project on their property, which the EPA deemed “wetlands” as … More
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When are we going to be honest about the impact of “clean energy” standards, renewable energy standards, cap and trade, and all the other policies to cut energy use under the guise of helping future generations? These policies are not things we do for our grandchildren; they are things we would do to them. The costs are hugely back loaded onto future generations, while the front-end costs are often fictionalized with unrealistic assumptions about carbon-reduction strategies. On March 1, Senator Jeff Bingaman (D–NM) proposed a national Clean Energy Standard (CES). … More
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By Walter Olson
One of President Obama’s better applause lines the other night came when he stepped into the unaccustomed public role of a deregulator:
We got rid of one rule from 40 years …
The President’s Spilled-Milk Joke is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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Stories are powerful. They help us relate to other individuals and communicate complex issues. They are an essential ingredient to making policy change in Washington. That’s why we’re asking for your help. The Heritage Foundation is seeking examples of individuals, entrepreneurs and business owners who have been negatively affected by the federal government’s regulatory overreach. We want to spotlight Americans’ experiences with Washington’s red tape. You can help us by filling out the form below. Our goal at Heritage is to reduce government interference and eliminate unwarranted government intrusion into … More
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Whatever his other qualities, outgoing White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley seemed to understand that punitive environmental policies entail tradeoffs. When one environmentalist explained the health risks of increased air pollutants, Daley asked, rhetorically, “What are the health impacts of unemployment?” That sense that the economic damage wrought by environmental regulation must not be ignored has been sorely missing from the president’s economic policies (though Daley reportedly tempered the president’s knee-jerk regulatory agenda). With him gone, the president is reverting to his old “have your cake and eat it … More
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By Ilya Shapiro
Michael and Chantelle Sackett bought some Idaho land and began placing gravel fill on the site to prepare for laying a foundation for their dream home. Then they got something from the EPA: a “Compliance Order,” declaring that they were in violation of the Clean Water Act, because their land had been deemed a “wetland” [...]
EPA Actions Should Be Subject to Judicial Review is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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Hindsight is supposed to be 20/20, but looking back on the past 12 months, it’s tough to see any sense in many of the Administration’s regulatory missteps. Of course, there are bound to be a few howlers when government churns out more than 3,500 rules in a year, including dozens unleashed by Obamacare, Dodd–Frank, and the perpetually errant Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). But by any standard, 2011 brought forth a remarkable number and variety of regulatory blunders. Fair warning: Our Top 10 list may prove fatal to any bit of … More
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The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is on a mission to further unilaterally expand its already vast regulatory powers in the name of “sustainable development.” Congress should take action to rein in the agency before it’s too late. An EPA-requested report issued in August by the National Research Council (NRC), a private nonprofit, lays out “an operational framework for integrating sustainability as one of the key drivers within the regulatory responsibilities of EPA.” The NRC and the EPA held a meeting on the report just last week. The exact meaning of … More
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The EPA’s analysis of the new mercury rule (the Utility Maximum Achievable Control Technology, or Utility MACT) is yet another example of regulatory bait-and-switch. The rule refers to mercury but really targets CO2, and it generates its purported benefits from reducing particulates that are already covered by other regulations. For an excellent and revealing analysis of the EPA calculations, see Anne E. Smith’s technical comments. The EPA claims this rule would produce $53 billion to $140 billion in annual benefits, but at most $6 million of the benefits come from … More
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The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), seemingly undeterred by the slow economic recovery, is marching ahead with air pollution regulations that would increase electricity prices, raise costs for businesses and consumers, and risk power outages. The EPA’s Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) and the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) are scheduled to go into effect in January of 2012 and 2015, respectively. Other pending related regulations include the Boiler MACT and Utility MACT rules, coal ash regulations, and new standards for cooling water intake structures. All of these are expensive … More
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