Climate Strategies: “One Step at a Time” or “Don’t Jump the Gun”??
In some situations, voluntary efforts leads other people to join in, whereas in others, it encourages them to hold back. There's a similar issue about climate mitigation efforts at the national, regional, or state level. Do these efforts really move the ball forward? Or are they counterproductive, because other places increase their own carbon emissions or lose interest in negotiating? A common sense reaction is that every ton of reduced carbon emissions means one...
CONTINUE READINGAssessing California’s cap-and-trade design
How vulnerable will California's cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gas emissions be to market manipulation, noncompliance, and fraud? Will the program's public auctions of allowances serve a critical regulatory purpose, or are they just a big money grab? With about four months to go before the highly anticipated first auction, these questions are important and getting increasing play. Last August, some colleagues and I examined California's proposed cap-and-trade...
CONTINUE READINGA Surprising Consequence of Suburban Sprawl?
Environmentalists continue to measure the GHG consequences of suburban sprawl. This is an important topic with relevant policy implications as cities in the developing world decentralize but I want to mention a funny consequence of sprawl. According to the NY Times, it determines your skills in basketball. Urban kids are better dribblers while suburban kids are better shooters. The claim is that this effect is due to "treatment" not "selection". For detail...
CONTINUE READINGRomney and Climate Change
Mitt Romney apparently believes not only that climate change is happening but that it's human-caused. He just thinks the U.S. shouldn't be regulating greenhouse gases without other large emitting countries like India and China regulating too. That's according to a "campaign surrogate," Linda Gillespie Stuntz, who served in the Energy Department under George W. Bush and spoke at Stanford this week. Romney also appears to be willing to engage in international ta...
CONTINUE READINGCalifornia releases proposed rule to implement streamlining of environmental review for new California infill developments
As part of an effort to create more walkable, livable communities that reduce vehicle miles traveled and the greenhouse gas emissions that those vehicles generate, California is removing barriers to infill development. Our governor and legislature are trying to create communities of homes and retail businesses that are closer together and closer to public transit. These are laudable goals. (See this report by Ethan Elkind from a few years ago, part of the UCLA Law...
CONTINUE READINGThe Romney Website’s Circular Blame Game
The Romney website portrays regulation as a huge drag on the economy. But it can't decide who's to blame. Is it all Obama's fault? Or not just Obama, but a whole succession of Presidents, many of them presumably Republicans? Or is it bureaucrats who have overpowered all of these Presidents? The website goes around in circles, embracing each of these theories even though they contradict each other. The website begins by placing the blame on developments during ...
CONTINUE READINGMitt ♥ Carbon
Republicans used to call for an "all of the above" strategy, combining renewables with fossil fuels. For Romney, it's oil and gas all the way. Fossil fuels give him a thrill. Renewables are a distant prospect, justifying only some investment in basic research against the far off day when they may become useful. Start with jobs, which is Romney's issue #1 across the board. The first sentence on his Energy page reads: "Producing more domestic energy would create good ...
CONTINUE READINGFukushima Whodunit
In a remarkable and significant new report, Japanese experts have concluded that the Fukushima nuclear accident was a “man”-made disaster – phrased this way perhaps in a gallant effort to allow all women to distance themselves from the decision making process. This dramatic conclusion prompts yet another question: If “man” isn’t responsible, then who is? Was it a dolphin conspiracy, perhaps? Or some nefarious abalone alliance? Can the decision to construct a ...
CONTINUE READINGFat City USA
This graphic from the Economist shows the amount of excess biomass due to obesity and overall population. As the chart shows, obese North Americans are carrying around an extra 263 million kilograms of fat -- or just about 290 thousand tons of fat. That's a daunting thought. That's a pattern that definitely isn't going to be replicable globally. The article's conclusion is stark: If the populations of other countries adopted the pattern of weight distribution foun...
CONTINUE READINGIs Duke Energy Playing the Regulation Game?
Just a few hours prior to the July Fourth holiday, the New York Times reported that Duke Energy Corporation announced a $32 billion merger with Progress Energy, creating the nation's largest utility. It will serve more than 7 million customers throughout the southeast and midwest. Okay. But buried in the story was this nugget: In the conference call, company executives said that one advantage of the combined company was that 85 percent of its business would be tra...
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