The federal Clean Water Act is a notoriously complex statute, imposing federal permitting on a wide variety of land uses, … More
Tag: regulation
California waives environmental regulations for forest management: will this become more common as wildfires worsen?
California experienced two of its worst wildfire seasons in 2017 and 2018. Deadly fires shook several communities, while also marring … More
Another downside to pervasive permitting: what happens when the government shuts down?
One of the lessons of the recent government shutdown (and expected near miss on a second one) is that there … More
What if, instead of battling about the costs of environmental regulations in the political arena and the courts, property owners and environmental groups treated their differences as an opportunity for arbitrage?
Whether regulation generally—and environmental regulation, in particular—imposes significant burdens on property owners and other regulated parties is sharply contested. The … More
Markets improve environmental outcomes without needing most people to notice, which also makes them vulnerable to public choice concerns
Counterintuitively, human prosperity is the engine of environmental improvement. As people grow richer, they care more about the environment around … More
Protecting the environment does not require us to abandon the rule of law
This week, briefing began in WildEarth Guardians v. U.S. Department of Justice, a case of critical importance to anyone concerned about … More
The Supreme Court wrestles again with the Clean Water Act’s due process deficit
Last week, the Supreme Court heard argument in the case challenging the WOTUS rule—the controversial rule defining the scope of … More
Compensation for takings incentivizes rational government decision-making
The Supreme Court is considering an important Takings Clause case on the government’s obligation to pay when it regulates away … More
Ideological blinders affect both extremes of the climate debate
Climate change challenges conservative and libertarian instincts in a way that makes it harder to believe the evidence, no matter how strong it is. Climate evangelists likewise tend to embrace science and evidence when it confirms their prior political views and reject it otherwise. For progressives and big-government liberals, climate change is easy to accept to the extent it seems to call out for a big-government solution. But even among climate evangelicals, where science and their prior political commitments conflict, politics usually win.
Congressional testimony on delays from ESA consultation
In congressional testimony, I explain how the Endangered Species Act’s consultation process delays infrastructure upgrades and can harm species.
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