You're Not the Boss of Me
Don't underestimate the willingness of individual states to push a regulatory agenda on the nation.
The Supreme Court’s Climate Stakes
This will be an interesting case.
‘It’s a bedrock constitutional principle that states can’t regulate activity outside their borders. Many are nonetheless trying to punish fossil-fuel producers for their global CO2 emissions, which has resulted in a lower-court clash that the Supreme Court will need to resolve—and better now than later.
‘The Justices on Friday are expected to consider whether to hear an appeal (Sunoco v. Honolulu) by fossil-fuel producers to a Hawaii Supreme Court decision that said they could be sued for climate change. Honolulu claims emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels cause global warming. Ergo the companies must pay the city damages for local climate effects.
‘In 2011 the Supreme Court unanimously dismissed similar claims by states in federal court (AEP v. Connecticut) on grounds that the Clean Air Act pre-empts federal torts. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg explained in the ruling that “it is primarily the office of Congress, not the federal courts, to prescribe national policy in areas of special federal interest.”’
Bureaucracy Isn't Measured In Bureaucrats
The first rule of Bureaucracy Club is do not get into a position where you will be embarrassed. Do everything possible to avoid being embarrassed.
‘Maybe he is working off a thesis where red tape expands to consume the resources available to it (as measured in bureaucrats). But my impression is that the amount of red tape is determined more by things like:
‘— How likely is it that their decision will get challenged in court?
‘And if it gets challenged in court, what amount of paperwork do they have to show the judge to prove that they made the decision on a “reasonable basis”?’
The US Government Is Sitting on a Possible Solution to the Housing Crisis
Desperate times call for creative measures.
‘The Trump campaign offered several policies to address the problem, but the centerpiece was the idea to open up federally controlled public lands for housing construction. It’s a particularly attractive idea because it can skirt local red tape, and it has bipartisan support. But if it’s going to succeed, the plan has to be oriented toward transforming smaller plots of land within urban areas and on their periphery.’
California’s ‘Impenetrable’ Environmental Bureaucracy Left L.A. Hills Primed to Burn
Human civilization is worth protecting.
Bureaucracy kills and destroys, LA fires edition.
‘And while the topography is different — the fires around L.A. are burning the chaparral landscape in the mountains and foothills around the city, not in forests — the lesson is the same, said Edward Ring, director or water and energy policy at the conservative California Policy Center: The L.A. fires have gotten out of hand largely due to poor land management.
‘“Historically, that land would either be deliberately burned off by the indigenous tribes or it would be grazed or it would be sparked by lightning strikes,” said Ring, an advocate of continuing to manage the chaparral land’s oaks and scrub brush with grazing animals, mechanical thinning, and controlled burns.
‘But that hasn’t happened, he said, due to public policies, bureaucratic resistance, and pushback from environmental activists. The result: The L.A. foothills were primed to burn.’
The growth in power for NGOs, here and abroad, is something. It is one degree of separation removed from agencies only now coming under Congressional and executive control.
Is one way to dodge Loper to funnel the money through NGOs?
‘Much of our current foreign aid budget is waste and should be cut given our massive deficit. But if we are going to spend money abroad, let’s do so with an investment-driven model focused on strategic project finance initiatives, and pro-market SBA-like loans and equity for small business entrepreneurs. Engaging alongside best-in-class American businesses and investors is a better way to make sure U.S. resources serve our national interests and deliver real results, versus ideological NGOs and corrupt government grift. By reducing mission drift and cutting NGO-capture - and making a profit for the American taxpayer - we can align US foreign aid with the rest of our new administration's priorities.’
Trump’s Potential Top Banking Regulators Tease Lighter Regulatory Touch
If a backup in rates causes some banks to teeter or fail, will this hurt the deregulatory momentum? It’s strong so far.
‘President-elect Donald Trump has yet to name his picks to head Washington’s banking agencies, but possible nominees for key posts are already teasing a pullback of regulations and embrace of technologies such as cryptocurrency.
‘Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Vice Chairman Travis Hill outlined plans to lessen the regulatory burden on banks, encourage innovation around crypto and address the issue of so-called debanking in a speech Friday morning, according to prepared remarks viewed by The Wall Street Journal.
‘He advocated for regulators to pull back on previous proposals to force banks to hold more capital.’
A New York legislator wants to pick up the pieces of the dead California AI bill
Big Tech may have a more difficult time fighting a prescriptive AI regulatory bill in New York than they did in California.
‘The first Democrat in New York history with a computer science background wants to revive some of the ideas behind the failed California AI safety bill, SB 1047, with a new version in his state that would regulate the most advanced AI models. It’s called the RAISE Act, an acronym for “Responsible AI Safety and Education.”
‘Assemblymember Alex Bores hopes his bill, currently an unpublished draft—subject to change—that MIT Technology Review has seen, will address many of the concerns that blocked SB 1047 from passing into law.’