Will Driving a Prius Save the Planet?
John Voelcker says no, and he is right (h/t TPM). In fact, he is so clearly right that I am not sure why one would write this piece. Indeed, I'm a little suspicious of the hidden agenda here. Voelcker points out five things that make driving a Prius Not The Savior Of Planet Earth. They are, essentially: 1. It's better to drive an electric car, which is a Zero Emission Vehicle. To be sure, as Voelcker acknowledges, this will turn on the nature of the power g...
CONTINUE READINGThe role of science in climate politics
Jonathan in his recent post and his comments to that post made a big point of emphasizing the importance of science as the basis for action in terms of climate change. He also emphasized his belief that the denial of climate change by leading Republicans in the current campaign is an unprecedented rejection of science (at least since World War II). I don’t disagree with any of Jonathan’s points. But I also don’t think that science is going to be what (if anyth...
CONTINUE READINGCruz, Fischer and Mourdock: Three Tea Party Senate Candidates Versus the Environment.
Tea Party candidates defeated less extreme conservatives in three GOP Senate nominating contests. Their environmental views are ultra-Right Wing. These candidates should be right on your wavelength -- if you think that there's a plan for U.N. world domination, that EPA should be gutted or abolished, and that climate change is a deliberate hoax by scientists. Ted Cruz is running in Texas. He says cap and trade is “the largest energy tax in history, which would take t...
CONTINUE READINGPaul Ryan, Big Oil, and the Environment
Now that Romney has announced his choice of Paul Ryan as his running mate, I thought it would be worth taking a quick look at his environmental positions. Environment and energy haven't been signature issues for him, but he's consistently been a good friend of the oil industry. On general environmental issues, apart from his budget cutting efforts, there's not much to report. His House website's environmental tab is mostly devoted to local Wisconsin issues (maintainin...
CONTINUE READINGCan We Evaluate the Likely Effects of Safety Regulation Before the Regulation is Implemented?
California's DTSC is proposing important new consumer product safety regulation. The details about this regulation are posted here. My prospective economic analysis of the regulation is posted here. An earlier draft of this analysis was co-written with Professor J.R DeShazo of UCLA....
CONTINUE READINGA Friendly Debate with a Conservative Colleague About Climate
My friend and colleague Steve Bainbridge is out with a new article on “Corporate Lawyers as Gatekeepers,” which, if you are interested in corporate law, you should read (Steve is one of the country’s most distinguished scholars in the field). But what piqued my interest when he sent it to me was his offhand remark that he is sending it out electronically to “reduce my carbon footprint.” I couldn’t resist. I responded, “Your CARBON footprint? You pink...
CONTINUE READINGBREAKING NEWS: Another West Coast Win for PACE Energy Financing
Almost a year later, California wins again in the effort to reverse a federal agency's 2010 decision that decimated PACE, a promising financing program for residential energy efficiency and renewable investments. Federal District Court Judge Claudia Wilken ruled today that the Federal Housing Finance Authority (FHFA) violated the Administrative Procedure Act's (APA) notice-and-comment requirement when it issued a decision to stop underwriting mortgages on properties wit...
CONTINUE READINGMitt Romney, Prisoner of the Tea Party
Just about any electoral map will tell you that Iowa is a swing state, and that Mitt Romney needs to win it if he hopes to capture the Presidency. Just about any political observer in Iowa will tell you that the wind energy tax credit, enacted as part of President Obama's stimulus package (but with previous antecedents), is very popular in the state; it is strongly supported by Iowa's Republican Governor, Iowa's Republican Senator, and GOP officials throughout the Haw...
CONTINUE READINGCalifornia’s Groundwater Crisis: Time to Adjudicate
As Rick pointed out last week, the University of Texas has found that California's groundwater resources are "being depleted at an alarming rate" and the state's use of them is completely unsustainable. The Texas study follows up on Rhead Enion's study last year issued by the Emmett Center, which pointed out that California is one of only two states that has no form of statewide groundwater management system at all. Oh, the state promised one -- back in 1913, when it...
CONTINUE READINGElectricity Prices and “Green Economy” Regulation
What is the relationship between pursuing an aggressive renewable portfolio standard and residential electricity prices? Here is what the San Francisco Chronicle (not a Romney newspaper) has to say: Going green: San Francisco's plan to "go green" will likely cost the typical city consumer about $9 more a month - with most of the money going to Shell Energy, which will be providing the renewable energy. Under the plan approved by City Hall, 50,000 to 90,000 househol...
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