The Wall Street Journal - 09.08.2019

A14| Friday, August 9, 2019 **** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

Past Performance Is No Guide for Progressives

Regarding Kyle Peterson’s “The

Weekend Interview with John Hicken-

looper and John Delaney: The Demo-

crats’ Capitalist Dark Horses” (July

27): It would be an interesting exer-

cise to examine whether either could

have achieved what he did if the taxes,

regulations and the “reforms” they

suggest existed when they were mak-

ing their way in the world of private

business. An even more interesting ex-

ercise would be to examine how their

even more liberal rivals would fare un-

der the proposals they have made.

As the very liberal late senator and

presidential candidate George McGov-

ern noted in this newspaper in “A Pol-

itician’s Dream Is a Businessman’s

Nightmare” (Manager’s Journal, June

1, 1992): “‘One-size-fits-all’ rules for

business ignore the reality of the mar-

ketplace. And setting thresholds for

regulatory guidelines at artificial lev-

els—e.g., 50 employees or more,

$500,000 in sales—takes no account

of other realities, such as profit mar-

gins, labor intensive vs. capital inten-

sive business, and local market eco-

nomics.”

McGovern left the Senate in 1981. In

1988 he invested much of what he had

earned on the lecture circuit in a Con-

necticut hotel. Within a few years, the

business was bankrupt.

As McGovern wrote: “The problem

we face as legislators is: Where do we

set the bar so that it is not too high to

clear? I don’t have the answer. I do

know that we need to start raising

these questions more often.”

It is a simple concern that is none-

theless often ignored by legislators—

and by candidates for president.

ELLENL.WEINGART

Wilmington, Del.

Mr. Hickenlooper appears to be

selling the political fate of geologists

short. While he may well be correct

about governorships, he would not be

the first geologist president. Herbert

Hoover was a geologist.

J.R.HUMPHRIES

Washington

I desperately hope candidates like

Messrs. Hickenlooper and Delaney

make it deep into the primary and

bring sanity to the Democratic Party.

Otherwise, the leftists in the party will

force our hand and President Trump

will be re-elected. Special credit

should go to both candidates for fight-

ing the lunacy of Medicare for All.

JASONACEVEDO

Abilene, Texas

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Letters intended for publication should

be addressed to: The Editor, 1211 Avenue

of the Americas, New York, NY 10036,

or emailed to [email protected]. Please

include your city and state. All letters

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letters can be neither acknowledged nor

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THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Making Heating Carbon Free Is Complicated

Regarding Richard Golomb’s July

29 letter responding to your editorial

“Berkeley Bans Natural Gas” (July 22):

Converting building heating to renew-

able electric is a substantial problem.

In both the Mid-Atlantic and the Up-

per Midwest, heating energy used by

buildings is about 60% of the total en-

ergy use there, while in New England,

buildings use about 64% of the total

energy for heating. In the coldest

weather the percentage of energy

used for heat increases. On a peak

New England heating day, the com-

bined oil and gas heat would be equiv-

alent to about 76,000 megawatts.

In January 2018, the peak New Eng-

land power load was about 18,

megawatts, so heating would be about

4.25 times total electric production,

while the electricity use includes more

than heat. Using heat pumps instead

would reduce this by a factor of 2.3 on

a cold winter day, so that the peak

heating demand would be only 33,

megawatts, 1.8 times the present total

winter electric load.

A new load of about twice the exist-

ing load would be added to the entire

electric system, just for heating, tri-

pling the load on the electric system.

Not only would new renewable gener-

ation have to be added, but the capac-

ity of the entire transmission and dis-

tribution system would have to triple,

all the way from the renewable energy

generators to each house.

Not all parts of the country would

require such a drastic expansion of the

electric system for renewable heat,

but most parts would need some ex-

pansion. These grim numbers should

motivate a search for alternative ways

to decarbonize building heating.

ROBERTW.TIMMERMAN,PE,CEM

Boston

Pepper ...

And Salt

Bad Choices Cause Much Middle-Class Debt

Your article on consumer debt

(“Record Debt Swamps Middle-Class

Families,” Page One, Aug. 2) fails to

mention that the main reason the

middle class is having difficulty in

paying off credit-card balances is the

exorbitant interest rates being as-

sessed by the credit-card companies.

During the 10-year span when the

prime interest rate was at historic

lows, credit-card companies were still

charging interest rates of over 20% or

even higher. The laws in some states,

particularly South Dakota, enable

credit-card companies to assess these

predatory rates. Federal legislation

should be passed to limit interest

rates on the cards by pegging them to

the consumer-price index or some

comparable index, similar to what

banks use in granting unsecured per-

sonal loans.

PAULBENEDICT

Broomall, Pa.

Are you kidding me? The title

should have read “Families Go Deep

in Debt To Live Beyond Their Means.”

You make $130,000 and you haven’t

paid off your $51,000 student loan?

Wait a minute, I know why: Because

you spent $18,000 on automobiles

and racked up $50,000 in credit-card

debt so you could “dine out several

times a week” and buy nonessential

items at T.J. Maxx to the tune of an

additional $7,500. When I was 28, I

understood that I couldn’t have ev-

erything I wanted “to stay in the mid-

dle class.” Plus, I understood basic

arithmetic.

MELODYROGERS

Tucson, Ariz.

What Part Does Luck Play in Success in Life?

Regarding Frayda Levin’s “Lady

Luck Didn’t Make Me Successful” (op-

ed, July 27): I agree with Ms. Levin

that it’s annoying to hear people talk

about their lives as if their choices

don’t matter, but I think people who

argue that luck has no effect on their

lives are equally annoying.

People’s lives are shaped a great

deal by their own choices, but the

choices of others and events not

controlled by people at all also have

a great impact. No one chooses to

be conceived, and by the time we

are born, we find ourselves in a

complex world that we played no

part in shaping. Yes, people’s

choices are a crucial factor in their

success or lack thereof, but they are

not the only factors or even neces-

sarily the determining ones.

Ms. Levin ends by quoting Thomas

Jefferson, a man who accomplished a

great deal in his lifetime partly be-

cause of his choices, but he also ben-

efited a great deal from circum-

stances he did not control as well as

his perpetual choice to deny freedom

to his many slaves who had far less

power to shape their lives than he

did, through no choice of their own.

BRENTELIASON

Ann Arbor, Mich.

We’re all lucky to be living in a

country where opportunity is offered

to those who work hard for it. Let’s

not forget that.

SIDNEYE.GOODFRIEND

Greenwich, Conn.

CORRECTION

Tulip, the protagonist of the ani-

mated series “Infinity Train,” is 13

years old. Due to an error in Cartoon

Network’s press materials, an Aug. 2

review of the show, “Endless Ride,

Dreamlike Worlds,” misstated her age.

Newsom Out-Putins Putin

Regarding your editorial “Califor-

nia Bans Trump” (Aug. 1): How much

should we worry about Russia inter-

fering with our election if we already

have California Gov. Gavin Newsom

rigging the ballots?

RALEIGHCOFFIN

Vero Beach, Fla.

Uncle Trump to the Naval Rescue

W

ell, well, look who’s coming to the
rescue of the British and shipping in
the Middle East. None other than
the Trump Administration
that is supposed to be an un-
reliable ally. The Brits now say
they’re joining a U.S.-led co-
alition to protect merchant
shipping after they failed to
get help from the rest of Eu-
rope.
The Royal Navy will join the effort organized
by the U.S. Central Command after Iran seized
a third ship this week. On July 19 the HMS Mon-
trose frigate was patrolling near the Strait of
Hormuz but was too far away to stop Iranian
forces from taking a British-flagged tanker and
crew that Tehran still hasn’t released.
Britain needs help because nearly half of its
frigates and destroyers are undergoing major
repairs or upgrades. The Royal Navy has around
80 ships, down from more than 130 during the
1982 Falklands War. The country is without a
deployable aircraft carrier, though it has plans
for two. London spent more than 2% of gross
domestic product on defense in 2018, fulfilling
its NATO requirement. But former Defence Min-
ister Tobias Ellwood admitted after the tanker
seizure that “our Royal Navy is too small to
manage our interests across the globe.”
Germany refused to help, perhaps because
it doesn’t want to offend Iran and might lose
a naval engagement. While the Deutsche Marine
has helped fight piracy in East Africa, it strug-
gles to meet basic NATO commitments. At one
point in 2018 its entire U-Boat fleet—six sub-
marines—was stuck in dry dock. The surface
fleet has held up better, though it’s aging fast.

Berlin spent only 1.2% of GDP on defense in

2018. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s heir apparent,
      Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karren-
      bauer, called for Germany to
      meet its 2% commitment dur-
      ing her recent swearing-in
      ceremony. Her fellow lawmak-
      ers responded with boos.
      The French would have had
      a limited benefit to a patrol
      mission, perhaps because La Royale has only a
      single aircraft carrier after cancelling plans for
      a second years ago.
      The episode exposes that Europe lacks the
      means and the will to project naval force in any
      serious way. European leaders worry about Mr.
      Trump’s reliability, and understandably given
      some of his rhetoric about NATO in his first
      couple of years in office. But when the urgent
      need arises, Europe still needs the United States
      to sail or fly or march to stand against the
      world’s rogue regimes.
      Bluster aside, President Trump has made it
      a priority to reinvigorate the U.S. military, espe-
      cially on operations and readiness that deterio-
      rated under Barack Obama. With 290 deploy-
      able ships, the U.S. Navy remains about 60 short
      of what America needs to maintain dominance
      as China rises and a declining Russia lashes out.
      But at least the U.S. can still project naval and
      air power in a way that gives the world’s pirate
      nations pause.
      The U.S. and Europe have a shared interest
      in defending freedom of navigation across the
      world, even if they disagree over Iran. So it’s
      a shame only the British so far have agreed to
      help Uncle Sam. The U.S. will do it anyway,
      whether or not Europe says thanks.

Europe claims it can’t

rely on the U.S., but look

who’s protecting ships.

Another Day in Bureaucratic Hell

M

odern bureaucratic government can
sometimes be difficult to navigate.
But this summer a federal appeals
court in Washington, D.C., is-
sued a ruling on the adminis-
trative state that would make
Kafka smile.
The story begins in 2007
when Congress expanded the
renewable fuel standard. The
law set targets for how much ethanol and biod-
iesel must be blended into America’s fuel sup-
ply. In typical dereliction of legislative duty,
Congress delegated much of the implementa-
tion to the Environmental Protection Agency.
As one stipulation, the EPA was told to perform
“periodic reviews” of the law’s results, includ-
ing “the impacts of the requirements described
in subsection (a)(2).”
First problem: There is no subsection (a)(2).
This provision does not exist.
Second problem: For years the EPA never
performed any formal periodic review, at least
not identified as such.
In 2017 Valero Energy filed a lawsuit. As an
owner of refineries, Valero is required to either
blend renewables into its products or buy com-
pliance credits called RINs. Each year refiners
spend hundreds of millions of dollars on these
credits. Valero would naturally be upset at the
EPA’s failure to review how the renewable plan
was working, as the law seemed to require. So
the company asked the judiciary to step in.
A district court in Texas sided with the EPA.
Since the law specified only “periodic” review,
without dictating a timetable, the court ruled
that the EPA could do it, essentially, whenever.
The agency “has a duty to conduct these re-
views,” the judge wrote, “but discretion to de-
termine when and how often.” To steal an old
Conan O’Brien gag, maybe the EPA would get
around to it in the year 3000.
Or never. Shortly after that ruling, the EPA
released an interpretive document laying out
its position. The legal mandate to review the

renewable program, the EPA said, was satisfied

by its regular process of making rules and eval-

uating waivers. Further, because the law’s re-

view clause cites a nonexis-

tent subsection (a)(2), the

EPA viewed that part of the

text as “unintelligible and in-

operative.”

Valero argued the bad cita-

tion was, rather, a correctable

scrivener’s error. The company said Congress

clearly meant to refer to nearby language, sub-

section (2)(B), which details the blending re-

quirements. In other words, Valero believed the

EPA was dodging its legal duty to periodically

evaluate the program’s negative effects on re-

finers.

The company sought help from the D.C. Cir-

cuit Court of Appeals. No dice. On June 25 the

court dismissed the case for lack of jurisdic-

tion. The EPA’s interpretive document could

not be reviewed, wrote Judge Sri Srinivasan,

because it “does not constitute final agency ac-

tion.” He cited a two-part test. First, a “final”

action can’t be “merely tentative or interlocu-

tory.” Second, it must result in legal conse-

quences or determine some party’s rights or

obligations.

The EPA’s document “imposes no obliga-

tions, prohibitions, or restrictions,” he wrote.

“Nor does it affect EPA’s legal obligation to

conduct periodic reviews. Rather, it leaves the

world just as it found it.” As a technical matter

of law, this may be correct and simply another

lovely day in the administrative state.

But for Valero, this is a saga of bureaucratic

hell. Congress writes a law, giving power to the

EPA. Sloppy drafting creates a citation to no-

where. The EPA fails to conduct a formal review

and then, after being sued, claims it did so all

along. When the regulated company cries foul,

it’s told that “periodic” merely means “not

never.” Then the EPA’s avowal of its own com-

pliance is deemed unreviewable.

This is what democracy looks like?

A legal fight with the

EPA shows the worst of

the administrative state.

Crime and Non-Punishment in NYC

N

ew Yorkers who have arrived in the two
decades since Rudy Giuliani cleaned up
the streets take for granted that they
can comfortably take a sub-
way late at night. But for how
much longer? Public order is
eroding as the city’s progres-
sive leaders have slammed the
brakes on “broken-windows”
policing.
Consider 23-year-old subway saboteur Isaiah
Thompson, who was arrested last week—for the
18th time. Mr. Thompson was released without
bail after being charged with reckless endan-
germent and criminal trespassing for riding
outside of a subway car. The so-called “subway
surfer” has caused hundreds of train delays
over the past two years by pulling emergency
brakes.
These are not “victimless crimes” like jay-
walking. They have wreaked havoc across the
city and disrupted life for thousands of New
Yorkers. Yet Mr. Thompson keeps being allowed
to walk even though he presents a serious
threat to the public.
Last July he slashed the arm of a subway
rider whom he said made unwanted eye con-
tact. Five months later he allegedly grabbed a
woman on a subway platform and tried to
“throw” her, according to the victim. Three
times last fall he was arrested for essentially
robbing the city by selling unauthorized Metro-
Card swipes, and he was nabbed in May for rid-
ing on the back of a subway car while exposing
himself to passengers.

Mr. Giuliani’s police commissioner, Bill Brat-

ton, understood that the erosion of public order

creates the conditions for more serious crimes.

New Yorkers are beginning to

experience the decline result-

ing from the city council’s de-

criminalization in 2017 of

quality-of-life offenses like

public urination and subway

hopping.

Arrests dropped 90% in the first 16 weeks af-

ter the decriminalization law was enacted. Last

month the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice

touted that jail admissions had dropped 50%

over the past five years and 20% since last year.

The rate of incarceration is the lowest since

1978 as more criminals like Mr. Thompson are

being allowed to walk.

The most visible results have been dirtier

streets and rising public drug use, but things

could quickly get worse. In the spring the state

Legislature essentially eliminated cash bail,

which NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill

warned will force police to “release habitual

criminals to return to their chronic offenses,

whether violent crimes, burglaries, drug traf-

ficking, or grand larcenies.”

Had the law been in effect last year, about

16,000 offenders with prior arrests involving

force, weapons or sex offenses would have been

released without even being held for arraign-

ment. “Our current low crime levels aren’t a

permanent achievement,” Mr. O’Neill noted.

“They are a continuing challenge.” Look no fur-

ther than the subway surfer.

A case study in the cost

of abandoning ‘broken-

windows’ policing.

REVIEW & OUTLOOK

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