US climate policy

The Inflation Reduction Act and California Offshore Wind

There May Be Workarounds for Delays in Offshore Wind Created by IRA Section 50265

Various measures in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), signed into law on August 16, 2022, create new momentum for offshore wind in California. However, as with all things in life, it’s never that simple. In this case, the IRA ties offshore wind (OSW) leases to offshore oil and gas auctions and prevents OSW leases from …

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The Inflation Reduction Act and the Sequencing of Climate Policy

Why subsidies for clean energy generally are preconditions for other climate policies

The Inflation Reduction Act would be, if enacted, the biggest piece of climate legislation that the U.S. Congress has ever passed.  As such, it’s gotten a fair amount of coverage attempting to put it into context for the broader scope of climate policy in the U.S. and globally – in particular, this article in Slate …

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Guest Blogger Ken Alex: Climate Science and Public Belief

Ken Alex is a Senior Advisor to Governor Jerry Brown and the Director of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research.  The views expressed in this blog post are his own. In the book Collapse, Professor Jared Diamond asks, why do societies destroy themselves through disastrous decisions, even after they perceive the problem?  Why, for …

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Tonight’s State of the Union (Plus “2013 SOTU Climate Change Bingo”)

Environmental policy wonks around the country:  it’s time to order your vegan hot wings, purchase some organic beers, and don the uniform of your favorite political party (red or blue tie, of course)!  Tonight is the (second) biggest television event of February: President Obama’s 2013 State of the Union.  Obama is set to score major …

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A Case of Intellectual Bankruptcy

It pains me to say this about a fellow alum of my high school, but George Will has apparently reached the point of intellectual insolvency.   A case in point: his recent Washington Post op. ed. about climate change. Will begins by setting up a straw man.  He slams climate advocates like Obama for supposedly basing …

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Another victim of the budget deal: key US greenhouse gas data?

It was my wonderful law school professor Gary Blasi who first introduced me to the idea that “what gets measured, gets done.”  I’m thinking of him and reading this news in some mixture of awe (at our seeming collective ability to ignore problems) and anger (at same): The final fiscal year (FY) 2011 budget provides $95.4 …

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