Should an Environmental Regulator Teach Old Laws to Do New Tricks?

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Eight-and-a-half years ago, E&E News called Joseph Goffman a “law whisperer” because “His specialty is teaching an old law to do new tricks.” The epithet was well enough deserved that Harvard Law Today repeated it five years later. Now, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is considering Goffman’s nomination to become Assistant Administrator for […]

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Lying with Statistics About American Electric Energy Sources

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Back in 1954 journalist Darrell Huff published How to Lie with Statistics. The book exposed many different ways in which people use statistics, even true ones, to foist off falsehoods. Today while looking for data on trends in the numbers of operating coal- and natural gas-fired power plants in the United States I came across

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The SEC’s Climate-Disclosure Rules Violate the First Amendment

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This article summarizes the argument of the author’s more technical article, “What’s ‘Controversial’ About ESG? A Theory of Compelled Commercial Speech under the First Amendment.” The SEC is on the cusp of enacting rules to compel companies to disclose “climate risk.” Commentators have critiqued the rules as misguided and beyond the SEC’s statutory authority. But the proposed

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Biden’s Gas Tax Suspension: Meager Help and Deficit Spending

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Today President Joe Biden called on Congress to pass legislation suspending the federal tax on gasoline for July through September, “to give Americans a little extra breathing room as they deal with the effects of Putin’s war in Ukraine.” Not Much Savings Put the emphasis on “little.” The average driver drives 1,125 miles per month,

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India’s Coal Proliferation Contradicts Global Climate Drama

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We have a crisis in India, and it is not with the climate. Power plants for the world’s second-largest consumer of coal are running out of stock, leaving a billion people at the risk of blackouts and forcing industries to close facilities. To resolve the situation, the Indian government has authorized increased importation of thermal coal, removed

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