The signs don’t look favorable for carbon dioxide emissions controls in the U.S. The Trump administra-tion along with much of the Republican party clearly do not believe in climate change in ways that comport with scientific consensus. As a result we should expect federal policy efforts to be directed elsewhere. However, the new acting head of the Environmental Protection Agency, following Scott Pruitt’s long anticipated departure, is Andrew Wheeler, former energy lobbyist. Interestingly he has conceded that the 2009 court decision that requires the EPA to regulate carbon dioxide emissions is “settled law.” How aggressively the agency interprets and ultimately enforces its mandate bears watching. Looking at energy policy changes further north in Canada, populist Doug Ford, the new premier of On-tario, recently fired the province’s chief scientist, eliminated the ministry of science and innovation and ended the provincial cap and trade market. If he were looking to align […]