Federal laws and regulations underlying the U.S. government’s approach to climate change, and litigation regarding their scope and implementation, are discussed in a new report from the Congressional Research Service. See U.S. Climate Change Regulation and Litigation: Selected Legal Issues, April 3, 2017.
Other new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following.
Filibusters and Cloture in the Senate, updated April 7, 2017
Invoking Cloture in the Senate, updated April 6, 2017
The Value of Energy Tax Incentives Across Energy Resources: Trends over Time, CRS Insight, April 6, 2017
Smith v. Obama: A Servicemember’s Legal Challenge to the Campaign Against the Islamic State, CRS Legal Sidebar, updated April 4, 2017
Military Pay: Key Questions and Answers, updated April 3, 2017
Latin America and the Caribbean: Fact Sheet on Leaders and Elections, updated April 6, 2017
FirstNet’s Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network Moves Forward, CRS Insight, April 4, 2017
What Constitutes “Sexual Abuse of a Minor” For Immigration Purposes?, CRS Legal Sidebar, April 6, 2017
Navy DDG-51 and DDG-1000 Destroyer Programs: Background and Issues for Congress, updated April 7, 2017
Navy Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) Program: Background and Issues for Congress, updated April 6, 2017
Navy Virginia (SSN-774) Class Attack Submarine Procurement: Background and Issues for Congress, updated April 6, 2017
Navy Ford (CVN-78) Class Aircraft Carrier Program: Background and Issues for Congress, updated April 6, 2017
Navy Littoral Combat Ship (LCS)/Frigate Program: Background and Issues for Congress, updated April 6, 2017
January saw us watching whether the government would fund science. February has been about how that funding will be distributed, regulated, and contested.
This rule gives agencies significantly more authority over certain career policy roles. Whether that authority improves accountability or creates new risks depends almost entirely on how agencies interrupt and apply it.
Our environmental system was built for 1970s-era pollution control, but today it needs stable, integrated, multi-level governance that can make tradeoffs, share and use evidence, and deliver infrastructure while demonstrating that improved trust and participation are essential to future progress.
Durable and legitimate climate action requires a government capable of clearly weighting, explaining, and managing cost tradeoffs to the widest away of audiences, which in turn requires strong technocratic competency.