Articles by Daniel Farber

Hurricanes Sandy and Katrina make it hard to ignore the simple fact that floods and flood risk management are an increasingly serious problem. Emergency responses have improved, but an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. We need to address the root causes of flood vulnerability. It’s better to have the government take precautions now rather than counting on FEMA to bail us out later. There are several reasons for the increasing toll from floods. One is climate change, which is contrib...

Hurricanes Sandy and Katrina make it hard to ignore the simple fact that floods and flood risk management are an increasingly serious problem. Emergency responses have improved, but an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. We need to address the root causes of flood vulnerability. It’s better to have the government take precautions now rather than counting on FEMA to bail us out later. There are several reasons for the increasing toll from floods. One is climate change, which is contrib...

The Washington Post put it simply:  “Obama has been aggressive about bolstering the federal government’s capability to respond to disasters, while his Republican challenger believes that states should be the primary responders in such situations and has suggested that disaster response could be privatized.” Thus, the two Presidential candidates have sharply different views – Obama supports FEMA while Romney would curtail the federal role and even transfer as much responsibility as possible from ...

The Washington Post put it simply:  “Obama has been aggressive about bolstering the federal government’s capability to respond to disasters, while his Republican challenger believes that states should be the primary responders in such situations and has suggested that disaster response could be privatized.” Thus, the two Presidential candidates have sharply different views – Obama supports FEMA while Romney would curtail the federal role and even transfer as much responsibility as possible from ...

A key part of Romney’s job plan involves rapid expansion of oil, natural gas, and coal.  As he said on one occasion, “I like coal.” On the other hand, he opposes current financial supports for renewable energy, such as the tax credit for wind energy.  He has accused Obama of focusing on “an imaginary world where government-subsidized windmills and solar panels could power the economy.”  Not only does he want to produce more fossil fuels, but he wants to eliminate barriers to their use such as th...

A key part of Romney’s job plan involves rapid expansion of oil, natural gas, and coal.  As he said on one occasion, “I like coal.” On the other hand, he opposes current financial supports for renewable energy, such as the tax credit for wind energy.  He has accused Obama of focusing on “an imaginary world where government-subsidized windmills and solar panels could power the economy.”  Not only does he want to produce more fossil fuels, but he wants to eliminate barriers to their use such as th...

The Obama Administration has proposed a new regulation of mercury pollution from power plants.  Romney has singled out this regulation as an example of regulation gone wild.  Who is right, and why does it matter? When coal is burned, mercury contained in the coal is released into the atmosphere, where it can be inhaled or fall into water bodies where it ends up in fish. The EPA rule deals with emissions of mercury from utilities; a separate rule covers industrial boilers, which are used by ceme...

The Obama Administration has proposed a new regulation of mercury pollution from power plants.  Romney has singled out this regulation as an example of regulation gone wild.  Who is right, and why does it matter? When coal is burned, mercury contained in the coal is released into the atmosphere, where it can be inhaled or fall into water bodies where it ends up in fish. The EPA rule deals with emissions of mercury from utilities; a separate rule covers industrial boilers, which are used by ceme...

A number of Governor’s Romney’s proposals have been criticized for not being specific enough.  One area where he has been quite specific, however, is regulatory reform.  Romney’s plan for regulatory reform would permanently change the way the government regulates everything from consumer fraud to airplane safety to toxic chemicals. Here are his two major proposals, how they would work, and their pros and cons. #1.  Impose a regulatory cap of zero. How it would work. Suppose that EPA decides a ...