The World Meteorological Organization said the coronavirus pandemic is expected to push carbon dioxide emissions down by 6 percent this year, which would be the largest one-year decrease since World War II. WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said in a virtual briefing that the drop could be traced to the “lack of emissions from transportation and…
Tag: Pollution
A Laffer Curve for Pollution?
Most of us naturally assume that some pollution is the price we must pay for economic progress. That may be true, but studies show that more pollution is bad for health, IQ, productivity and employment. That means that pollution reduces human capital. There may be a “Laffer Curve” for pollution, just as there is for…
Links: Regulation and the Virus, Reusable Coffee Cups, Deforestation
FEE: ‘A Litany of Useless Laws Have Been Exposed by the Coronavirus.’ CEI: Regulation, not offshore outsourcing, is hindering supply of medical equipment. BBC: As coronavirus goes up, air pollution goes down.
Medical Waste Grows, Solar Energy Destroys Habitat, Skeptics Reappear. . .
Medical waste from coronavirus is mounting. BBC: Renewable energy is eating up wildlife habitat. HT Benny Peiser. Wikipedia deletes list of scientists who are skeptics on apocalyptic climate change; JoNova retrieves their names. Bjorn Lomborg: How we can reduce indoor air pollution in Ghana.
What Went Wrong with the Obama-Era “Waters” Rule?
In his new PERC policy paper, R. David Simpson reports on his experience reviewing the cost-benefit analysis of an Obama-era regulation defining “WOTUS.” (In Washington lingo, that is “waters of the United States.”) Simpson, an economist formerly with the Environmental Protection Agency, expresses regret that he did not press harder to improve the EPA’s cost-benefit analysis of the rule, issued in 2015. The rule was designed to extend the federal government’s jurisdiction over U.S. waters under the Clean Water Act, bringing relatively isolated streams and wetlands under government regulation.
“Should EPA Reverse Its Endangerment Finding on Greenhouse Gases?”
Treating carbon dioxide as an air pollutant is somewhat ironic since carbon dioxide is well-known as a gas that enriches plant growth. Undoubtedly, there is more to come.