On Tuesday, EPA issued a Notice of Data Availability, requesting
further comment on some specific issues that have been raised since
it published its draft Clean Power Plan in June. My immediate
reaction? My head hurts.
I don't mean to trivialize the implementation issues that
would likely arise if Congress enacted either a cap-and-trade
system or a carbon tax, but they've got to pale in comparison
to the Rube Goldberg-like system that's going to be in place
once EPA promulgates a final rule. This is not meant as a
criticism of EPA. To the contrary. The agency has to
know that it's not going to get any credit from the right for
any improvements that it makes to the Clean Power Plan. Thus,
the only explanation for all the agency's efforts, including
this NODA, is that they really want to get this right and have the
ultimate plan be as cost-effective as possible, given the serious
constrains under which they are operating.
