Month: July 2012
The Dark Subcontinent
Chaos has reigned over massive swathes of India during the last few days, as much of the northern part of the country outside of major urban centers has been without power. The New York Times has excellent spot coverage, but a deeper analysis comes from John Elliott’s invaluable blog, Riding the Elephant. The government has …
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CONTINUE READINGRomney’s Views About Climate Policy: A Detailed Timeline
Updated Sept. 4, 2012. There has been considerable discussion of Governor Romney’s views about the causes of climate change and about policies such as cap and trade. It’s not easy, however, to find detailed documentation. For that reason, I’ve assembled as much information as I could find about what Romney has said and done over …
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CONTINUE READINGOverdrafting California’s Groundwater Resources–A Chronic Condition
A recently issued study by a University of Texas-led group of research scientists confirm a discomforting fact: groundwater resources in California’s Central Valley are being depleted at an alarming rate. As reported in the Sacramento Bee, the study warns that current groundwater extraction rates from the Central Valley aquifer–which is primarily mined to serve agricultural …
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CONTINUE READING“Everything is God”: The Shema and the Environment
Rabbi Marc Angel is one of the most important Jewish thinkers today: the former chief rabbi of Congregation Shearith Israel , New York’s oldest Sephardic synagogue, he created and now heads the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals, a think tank that has pioneered innovative modern Orthodox thought in the Sephardic tradition. His recent award-winning book on Maimonides and …
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CONTINUE READINGChristie and Climate Change
I posted last week about Governor Christie’s support for solar power. He immediately followed that action by vetoing a bill to bring New Jersey back into RGGI, the greenhouse gas trading system of the Northeast states. (RGGI stands for Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.) The veto message points out that he had already vetoed a similar …
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CONTINUE READINGMuller Serves Up a Koch Zero, No Ice.
Physicist Richard Muller reports the results of his research, which was funded by Charles Koch Charitable Foundation. The results were probably not what Koch was hoping for: “CALL me a converted skeptic. Three years ago I identified problems in previous climate studies that, in my mind, threw doubt on the very existence of global warming. Last …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Politics of State Energy Deregulation: A Hypothesis
If you are interested in environmental policy, state public utility commissions might be the important agencies you’ve never heard of. PUCs determine how much power capacity there will be and even more importantly, what the mix of energy sources will generate it. Sometimes pundits will speak of “national energy policy”, but that is essentially a null set: …
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CONTINUE READINGChristie Goes Solar
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed legislation a few days ago to strengthen the state’s solar industry. Utilities will be required to 2.05% of their power from solar in 2014, rising to 4.1% in 2028. The law also sets a price cap of $339 for each megawatt-hour short of the goal in 2014. According to …
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CONTINUE READINGPicking Up the PACE: FHFA Releases Proposed Property-Assessed Clean Energy Rule
It has been a long road for supporters of Property-Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) programs. With the recent release of the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Proposed Rule on enterprise underwriting standards and mortgage assets affected by PACE programs, some residential PACE supporters may be reasonably fatigued. But while the agency’s Proposed Rule maintains its position that …
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CONTINUE READINGCalifornia State Parks: What’s the Real Scandal?
Make no mistake: the disclosure last week that the California State Parks Department was sitting on $54 million of excess funds while claiming that parks all over the state had to be closed is a real hit. Parks director Ruth Coleman — actually, a talented and dedicated public servant — did the right thing and immediately resigned, …
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