As readers of this blog know, I believe in governmental
environmental regulation. We have a complicated world and it is not
surprising that many activities, including those generating
greenhouse gases, cause negative externalities. At the same time,
however, I have spent more than 25 years representing regulated
entities in negotiations with government regulators and it is
impossible to do such work without obtaining an appreciation for
the very significant costs that bureaucracies impose.
With all due respect – cue the upcoming diss – to my
many friends in government, the absence of market discipline or the
ability to fire nonpolitical bureaucrats often leads to street level bureaucrats operating under a law
of their own devising. Moreover, if a complex economy causes
externalities requiring regulation, that same complexity should
cause regulators to pause before imposing or revising complicated
regulatory regimes. Unintended consequences abound.
