Click here to download a complete pdf version of E&E Legal Letters Issue XXXII Summer. Click headlines for the full article.
Not Our Founding Father’s Infrastructure Bill
by Steve Milloy, E&E Legal Senior Policy Fellow, as appearing on RealClear Energy
“And what I’m proud to say is that is what our forefathers intended,” says Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) about the new and just released infrastructure bill. That’s quite a divination of what James Madison et al. would have thought about a mammoth 2,700-page, trillion-dollar spending orgy released to the public three days before Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) wants to bring it to a vote.
Here’s Why California Gas Prices Are Highest in the Country
by Katy Grimes, Senior Media Fellow, as Appearing in the California Globe
The national gas price average increased 40% since the start of the year, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA). “Starting the year at $2.25 on January 1, average gas prices per gallon increased to $3.13 today.” And the prices are still going up. AAA says motorists can expect gas prices to increase another 10–20 cents through the end of August, bringing the national average well over $3.25 this summer.
Does Congress authorize or direct?
by Greg Walcher, Senior Policy Fellow, as appearing in the Daily Sentinel
The forest health crisis in America has reached such staggering proportions, it is no exaggeration to say, that one generation of national leaders has squandered the greatest legacy of the conservation movement — our national forests. During the last 20 years, more than 100 million acres of national forests have burned to the ground, including the largest fires ever in Colorado, California, and several other western states. Another 10 million acres were added to that national disgrace in 2020 alone, including utter decimation of 400,000 acres in the heart of Rocky Mountain National Park.
Worry about the intellectual climate, not climate change
by Steve Milloy, E&E Legal Senior Policy Fellow, as appearing in the Washington Examiner
As a work of science, the new “Code Red” climate report from the United Nations is a complete and utter fraud.
The report’s alarmist message is that we are running out of time to control emissions. And if we don’t get serious about cutting them, we will fail to meet the Paris climate accord’s goal, keeping the increase in average global temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius to 2 degrees Celsius, 10 years earlier than previously predicted.
Depleted California Reservoirs Threaten Hydro Power, Agriculture, Drinking Water
by Katy Grimes, Senior Media Fellow, as Appearing in the California Globe
In 2014, California voters approved $7.12 billion in bonds for state water supply infrastructure projects. Of that, $2.7 billion was designated for water storage projects. But nearly 8 years later, there are no new dams or reservoirs, or other water storage projects to collect and store California’s winter runoff. And California is in yet another drought.
E&E Legal Letters is a quarterly publication of the Energy and Environment Legal Institute. The publication is widely disseminated to key stakeholders, such as our members, website inquiries, energy, environment, and legal industry representatives, the media, congressional, legislative, and regulatory contacts, the judiciary, and donors.
