Economists call them "externalities." They're the costs of people's actions on other people or communities—though the people taking those actions don't have to pay for those costs, even as they harm others. The emissions from combusting fossil fuels to propel vehicles are clearly a prime example. DON'T MISS: A Brief History Of Smog, Which... When will we see ‘tailpipes’ on cars as morally wrong? An Earth Day question
Economists call them "externalities." They're the costs of people's actions on other people or communities—though the people taking those actions don't have to pay for those costs, even as they harm others. The emissions from combusting fossil fuels to propel vehicles are clearly a prime example. DON'T MISS: A Brief History Of Smog, Which... ![Donald J. Trump in November 2016 [photo: The Trump Organization]](http://images.hgmsites.net/tmb/donald-j-trump-in-november-2016-photo-the-trump-organization_100590012_t.gif)
As the Trump Administration nears its 100th day, it seems fair to say that it is still emitting mixed messages on multiple issues, from foreign policy to climate change. On that latter, it's important to reiterate that the president and many of his appointed agency and department heads deny the science of climate change. On the campaign trail, the... 
The Clean Power Plan’s future looks uncertain at best under President Donald Trump. The commander-in-chief appears to be urging American utility companies to pivot back towards burning coal to produce electricity. Ending the so-called “war on coal” is intended to create jobs in the mining sector, at the expense of the... 
Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg has gone on record saying publicly what most analysts have discussed privately: the notion that Washington can direct the energy market back towards coal is wrong. In fact, Bloomberg is willing to go further: he believes that the U.S. can still meet the reductions set forth in the Paris climate treaty... ![The White House, Washington, D.C. [Creative Commons license by dcjohn]](http://images.hgmsites.net/tmb/white-house_100170583_t.gif)
Last Wednesday, a broad coalition of environmental groups sued the Trump Administration over an executive order that lifted a moratorium on issuing new leases for coal mining on federal lands. That order would have eliminated the requirement for an environmental impact study on the impacts of any form of coal extraction across a wide swath of... 
The new U.S. president, Donald Trump, is working to eradicate every Obama policy to limit the carbon emissions that contribute to climate change. Having variously called the science behind climate change a "Chinese plot" to hurt the U.S. and referred to it using an expletive for bovine excrement, this shouldn't come as a surprise. He pledged to do... 
Given the current political landscape in Washington, it's not unreasonable to worry about the future of U.S. efforts to combat climate change. The Trump Administration has embarked on an explicit mission to undo all Obama Administration efforts to reduce carbon emissions. Climate-science deniers in the current administration include Trump himself... 
It was clear well before November's election that candidate Donald Trump did not believe in the accepted science of climate change. He referred to it using an excremental epithet, and also claimed that it was a Chinese hoax created to hurt the U.S. Scientists around the world and the majority of Americans accept the science of climate change, but... 
Since the election of Donald Trump, considerable attention has focused on how a candidate who campaigned on promoting fossil fuels would treat the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies charged with regulating those industries. But potential changes to the EPA do not come solely from the Executive Branch. Over the past few... 
One of the major sources of carbon emissions is electricity generation. It's an issue that is becoming increasingly important in the automotive sphere, due to the slow rise of plug-in electric cars. So what would it take to eliminate carbon emissions entirely from making electricity? DON'T MISS: Bipartisan governors' group urges Trump to back... 
The new presidential administration seems poised to take a radically different approach to energy policy than its predecessor. That approach is founded on denial of accepted climate science, and an expressed desire to promote the fossil-fuel industry, including the so-called revival of coal. But while the White House prepares to execute what looks... ![Smog obscures George Washington Bridge, 1973 [From EPA Documerica series]](http://images.hgmsites.net/tmb/smog-obscures-george-washington-bridge-1973-from-epa-documerica-series_100594067_t.gif)
It can be argued that the current presidential administration appears to lack interest in the traditional mission of the Environmental Protection Agency. As a candidate, Donald Trump advocated wholesale repeal of environmental regulations and increased production of fossil fuels. He has also called climate science a "hoax" created by China to hurt... 
Under the administration of President Barack Obama, the U.S. joined the rest of the world and took a leading role in global efforts to avert irreversible climate change. But that seems unlikely to continue under the Trump administration, which has nominated climate-science deniers to numerous key positions. Just yesterday, the head of Trump's EPA...