Air pollution could be the next battleground between California and the Trump administration, which is reviewing the Golden State’s special legal authority to regulate tailpipe emissions.
Customers line up to buy gasoline in San Jose, California, on March 15, 1974, during an Arab oil embargo. The crisis spurred enactment of the first U.S. vehicle fuel economy standards.
AP
Since the federal government started setting fuel economy standards, US-built cars have doubled their fuel efficiency, saving money for consumers and reducing pollution.
The largest television company in the US recently issued a coordinated campaign of scripted warnings about fake news.
Screen Shot at 2PM
The fake news label has been used by politicians to discredit unfavourable media stories. But even assuming good intentions, new laws are incapable of tackling the menace.
From Brooklyn to Los Angeles, thousands of Americans are raising chickens in their backyards. But without stricter regulation, urban poultry farming is risky for both humans and birds.
It may seem convenient to think of technology companies as similar, but they’re really not.
The Conversation
When thinking about regulating them, it’s useful to know Facebook, Amazon, Google, Apple and Microsoft have some similarities. But generally they’re not competing with each other – or anyone else.
Dogs can become as close to you as any other person – but are they ‘legal persons’?
Olena Yakobchuk/Shutterstock.com
Elaine Herzberg’s death will provide the impetus for clearer liability rules for self-driving cars. Australia is wise to adopt a wait-and-watch approach and maintain its human-first orientation.
This episode is all about bitcoin. Will it be the currency of the future? Who’s trying to capitalise on the legal loopholes of cryptocurrencies? And is it possible to make mining them more green.
Technology can help identify hate speech online, but it’s not a silver bullet solution.
Shutterstock
New laws, new tools and new research is required to combat the rise in online hate. That means both regulating social media companies, and making use of technology to help measure compliance.
Healthy aquatic vegetation in the Chesapeake Bay.
Cassie Gurbisz/University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
Bill Dennison, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science e Robert J. Orth, Virginia Institute of Marine Science
An ambitious plan to cut the flow of nutrients into the Chesapeake Bay has produced historic regrowth of underwater seagrasses. These results offer hope for other polluted water bodies.
While sovereign governments need to develop coherent frameworks to regulate cryptocurrency, permanent solutions will be found through international co-operation.
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority has been criticised for pursuing stability in a manner that has killed competition.
Mick Tsikas/AAP
Donald Boesch, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
A scientist who served on a national commission to review the 2010 BP oil spill explains why Trump administration efforts to loosen offshore drilling regulation pose major risks for minor payoffs.
Some telemarketers retain nearly all of the charitable dollars they solicit.
Gajus/Shutterstock.com
For-profit fundraisers often keep more of the money they collect on behalf of nonprofits than they should but Ohio’s attorney general is accusing a charity of serving as an accomplice to a crime.
Distinguished Professor of Practice, Trachtenberg School of Public Policy & Public Administration, and Director of the Regulatory Studies Center, George Washington University