Struggling for Air: Power Plants and the ""War on Coal""

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Richard Revesz (Professor of Law and Dean Emeritus, Professor of Law and Dean Emeritus, NYU Law School) Jack Lienke (Legal Fellow, Legal Fellow, Institute for Policy Integrity, NYU School of Law)

Struggling for Air

Power Plants and the ""War on Coal""

Richard Revesz (Professor of Law and Dean Emeritus, Professor of Law and Dean Emeritus, NYU Law School), Jack Lienke (Legal Fellow, Legal Fellow, Institute for Policy Integrity, NYU School of Law)

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English

Oxford University Press Inc
12 January 2016

Environmental economics; Coal & solid fuel industries; Environment, transport & planning law

Since the beginning of the Obama Administration, conservative politicians have railed against the President's ""War on Coal."" As evidence of this supposed siege, they point to a series of rules issued by the Environmental Protection Agency that aim to slash air pollution from the nation's power sector . Because coal produces far more pollution than any other major energy source, these rules are expected to further reduce its already shrinking share of the electricity market in favor of cleaner options like natural gas and solar power. But the EPA's policies are hardly the ""unprecedented regulatory assault "" that opponents make them out to be. Instead, they are merely the latest chapter in a multi-decade struggle to overcome a tragic flaw in our nation's most important environmental law. In 1970, Congress passed the Clean Air Act, which had the remarkably ambitious goal of eliminating essentially all air pollution that posed a threat to public health or welfare. But there was a problem: for some of the most common pollutants, Congress empowered the EPA to set emission limits only for newly constructed industrial facilities, most notably power plants. Existing plants, by contrast, would be largely exempt from direct federal regulation-a regulatory practice known as ""grandfathering."" What lawmakers didn't anticipate was that imposing costly requirements on new plants while giving existing ones a pass would simply encourage those old plants to stay in business much longer than originally planned. Since 1970, the core problems of U.S. environmental policy have flowed inexorably from the smokestacks of these coal-fired clunkers, which continue to pollute at far higher rates than their younger peers.

In Struggling for Air, Richard L. Revesz and Jack Lienke chronicle the political compromises that gave rise to grandfathering, its deadly consequences, and the repeated attempts-by presidential administrations of both parties-to make things right.

By: Richard Revesz (Professor of Law and Dean Emeritus Professor of Law and Dean Emeritus NYU Law School), Jack Lienke (Legal Fellow, Legal Fellow, Institute for Policy Integrity, NYU School of Law)
Imprint: Oxford University Press Inc
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 147mm, Width: 213mm, Spine: 23mm
Weight: 363g
ISBN: 9780190233112
ISBN 10: 0190233117
Pages: 232
Publication Date: 12 January 2016
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Richard L. Revesz is one of the nation's leading voices in the fields of environmental and regulatory law and policy. He is Lawrence King Professor of Law and Dean Emeritus at New York University School of Law, where he directs the Institute for Policy Integrity. Jack Lienke is a Senior Attorney at the Institute for Policy Integrity at New York University School of Law, where his work focuses on climate change policy and other forms of environmental regulation.

Reviews for Struggling for Air: Power Plants and the ""War on Coal""

"""Struggling for Air is a clear-eyed look at the realities of President Obama's Clean Power Plan, the falsehoods of the polluters' 'War on Coal' campaign, and the irrefutable facts of the climate crisis. Revesz and Lienke remind us how we got here-and why we need to act now."" -Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (RI) ""Revesz and Lienke document the enormous success of the Clean Air Act and analyze its unfinished business of controlling pollution from aging coal-fired power plants. This book could not be more timely!"" -William K. Reilly, Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1989-93 ""Revesz and Lienke have written a clear, incisive and compelling account of the coal and electric utility industries' decades-long success in blocking sound environmental policies. They also offer some hope-growing from recent efforts by presidents of both parties-of holding these industries accountable for the serious costs they impose on society. Struggling for Air is destined to be a classic in the study of environmental policy and politics."" -Jonathan Z. Cannon, Blaine T. Phillips Distinguished Professor of Environmental Law, University of Virginia, and General Counsel, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1995-98 ""A short, deft history of the U.S. Clean Air Act . . . [E]xcellent for college courses (or even advanced high school classes) in climate change, air pollution, or environmental science and policy."" -David Doniger, Switchboard: National Resources Defense Council Staff Blog"