Which Side Are Environmentalists On?
Watching Bill Clinton's interview with Jon Stewart earlier today, I was struck by one thing: Clinton's advocacy of Walmart's environmental practices. If the 42nd President is to be believed, the retailing giant has pioneered a series of seemingly impressive environmental initiatives, particularly in the use of solar photovoltaics, and in reducing VMT for its vast fleet of trucks. All very well and good, and the sort of thing that one would hope more in the business co...
CONTINUE READINGPrice Implications of the California 33% RPS as the Federal Government Cuts Green Subsidies
Frank Wolak is quoted in today's LA Times about the electricity price implications of California's pursuit of a 33% RPS by the year 2020. He argues that electricity prices will rise as a consequence of this regulation. At the same time that California is ratcheting up its RPS standard, the Federal Government is winding down its green subsidies for wind turbines and for big solar projects. Even if President Obama is re-elected, budget realities are such that I...
CONTINUE READINGFive Ideas for Regulatory Reformers
Duke is hosting a conference on Monday (10-4 ET) about conservative approaches to environmental protection. (livestream here). Here are a few ideas to throw into the mix: 1. Streamline interstate compact approval for multistate environmental efforts. This would help move authority from Washington and would provide states a better mechanism for dealing with problems that cross state lines. One possibility would be a fast-track legislative process conditioned on...
CONTINUE READINGWarren versus Brown on Energy and Environment
At the debate between Elizabeth Warren and Scott Brown last night, there was a brief discussion of energy issues. Brown defended subsidies for oil companies but criticized Warren for trying to tie him to Jim Inhofe. Unlike Inhofe, Brown does believe in climate change (at least right now -- he seems to have waffled over the past few years.) He doesn't seem to be prepared to do anything about the problem, however. A little research confirms that there's a real diff...
CONTINUE READINGSubsidizing Fossil Fuels While the Wind Sector Bleeds Jobs
Yesterday, Jonathan Zasloff wrote a post on Senator Alexander and Representative Mike Pompeo’s Wall Street Journal op-ed opposing the wind energy tax credit, which is set to expire at the end of 2012 barring Congressional action. Yesterday’s post raised the question of how traditional fossil fuel subsidies compare to renewable energy subsidies. A 2009 Environmental Law Institute report sheds some light on the “hidden” ways we subsidize traditional energy sou...
CONTINUE READINGSupersized Drinks, Social Welfare, and Liberty
Obesity is an environmental issue because the food system (from farm to table) uses a lot of energy and produces significant water pollution. More food equals a bigger environmental footprint. Sweetened soft drinks are a good example: they use corn sweetener, and corn production has a large footprint because so much fertilizer is required. There is a growing epidemic of obesity and of childhood obesity in particular. The New Scientist has a very thoughtful revie...
CONTINUE READINGMore Idiocy from the Wall Street Journal Op-ed Page
A few years ago, a friend of mine suggested starting a blog entitled something like, "Why The Wall Street Journal Editorial Page Was Idiotic Today." You'd never run out of material for posts! Certainly that was the case today, as Senator Lamar Alexander and Representative Mike Pompeo, both Republicans, make a case against the wind energy tax credit. Essentially, their argument is that the credit is tantamount to "negative energy pricing," which in their parlance m...
CONTINUE READINGHow to Interpret Empirical Studies: Four Lessons from Political Polling
Political polls provide a good setting for a discussion of empirical research. They seem simple and are often in the headlines so we're familiar with them. Also, we don't always have an accessible compendium of all the studies on the same topic, but it's pretty easy to find polls in a presidential race during the same time period. So polls are a convenient example of empirical research. You might expect that all the polls would agree if they're conducted by reputable ...
CONTINUE READINGAdapting to Drought Through International Free Trade
In a world where people and nations do not trade, you can only consume what you produce. If you want a cup of coffee and can't trade with anyone then you better know how to make one. International trade breaks the link between consumption and production. When nasty drought occurs in one nations, but not in others, then there are opportunities for international trade in food commodities. Restrictions to free trade such as tariffs and quotas only impede this impli...
CONTINUE READINGHow Worried Are Small Businesses About Environmental Regulation?
We're heard a lot recently about the supposedly dire effect of environmental regulations on small businesses. A recent poll of small business owners by George Washington University using the Thumbtack site has some interesting findings about this. One of the questions in the survey was, "How important are the following issues to the success of your business?" Environmental regulations ranked eleventh on the list of concerns nationally. What about the ranking for small...
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