Regulatory Capture And The Deepwater Horizon

The Obama administration's efforts at fighting BP's Deepwater Horizon oil leak would have been a lot easier had all federal agencies been on board in the fight to correctly monitor federal agencies. By that, I mean Minerals Management Service within the Interior Department essentially abdicated its responsibility to protect the public. Instead, it became a textbook example of regulatory capture. How does this happen? Gifts from the oil industry. It also helps when Republican presidents appoint political puppets with ideological dispositions to believe that government regulation is inherently bad.

The Greening of Detroit

People who are smart in planning their future will look for jobs in industries that are growing, not shrinking. Smart people, then, will go green.
Earth Day is an opportunity to focus on the tremendous job growth potential in green industries. I have written extensively about how labor union jobs are not the future (even though I support them), how Black workers need to ditch service jobs, and how STEM jobs (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) are the way forward.

A great city to see the future up close is Detroit. Of all places, a city best known for old school manufacturing might actually lead the way in green job creation.

Read the rest at The Loop.