A Side-by-Side Comparison of Romney and Obama on Energy and Environment
I've put together a table of language from the issues sections of the official campaign websites dealing with energy and environment. I decided to use the candidate's own language to avoid interposing my own views on the issues. Please keep in mind that the table uses their language, not mine. Not surprisingly, the candidates frame issues differently and choose to address some issues rather than others. For example, Obama has an "environment" heading, while Romney has h...
CONTINUE READINGThe Public Trust Doctrine Revisited
The U.C. Davis Law Review has just published its annual, symposium issue, this year devoted to the Public Trust Doctrine. Back in 1980, the U.C. Davis Law School sponsored a first-ever conference focusing on the public trust doctrine's role in modern environmental law. A year later, the U.C. Davis Law Review published a symposium volume dedicated to the public trust doctrine, memorializing much of the scholarship first presented at the 1980 conference. That volum...
CONTINUE READINGThe Challenge of Coal Exports
This article highlights a paradox. Oregon is an environmentalist state whose residents seek to live a low carbon lifestyle. Apparently, there is a lot of coal under Oregon and this state may become a major exporter of such high carbon fuel to Asia. Given its location, it may become one of the leading ports as other U.S states seek to ship their coal to Asia. This is the geography of "leakage". Here is quote from the article: "Just outside Boardman, on a pl...
CONTINUE READINGCoal, China, and Pollution
Air pollution in China is a global problem, because of climate change, and a California problem, because pollutants from China reach the U.S. West Coast. An article in the current issue of Nature has good news and bad news about coal and pollution in China. The good news is increased pollution control. The authors estimate that "new equipment reduced SO2 emissions from China's power plants by 1.5 million tonnes in 2005 and by 17.5 million tonnes in 2010 — 54% of...
CONTINUE READINGGreen Industry Growth
Here's a list of the fastest growing industries from the Washington Post: 1. Generic pharmaceuticals 2. Solar panel manufacturing 3. For-profit universities 4. Pilates and yoga studios 5. Self-tanning product manufacturing 6. 3-D printer manufacturing 7. Social network game development 8. Hot sauce production 9. Green and sustainable building construction 10. Online eyeglasses sales. I'm cheered by the growth of the hot sauce industry, having grown up in an era ...
CONTINUE READINGFollow the Sun: Mexico On Target to Pass National Climate Change Law
With Friday's lower chamber passage of a new national climate change law, Mexico is poised to become a pioneer in climate change policy, proving the United States and the rest of the world that environmental protection and economic growth are both critical and achievable goals. On April 13, Mexico's 500-member Chamber of Deputies passed the "General Law on Climate Change" by an overwhelming 128-10 vote. Mexico's Senate - which passed a preliminary version of this le...
CONTINUE READINGChinese environmentalist Ma Jun an awardee of the 2012 Goldman Environmental Prize
Ma Jun, one of China’s most effective environmentalists, is a recipient of the 2012 Goldman Environmental Prize. The official release from the Goldman Environmental Prize had the following to say: Motivation While working at the South China Morning Post in the 1990s, Ma Jun had the opportunity to travel extensively in the country. He witnessed the environmental pollution, eco-degradation and sufferings of people in various watersheds in China. He began focusing on...
CONTINUE READINGPublic Opinion on Environment and Energy
Gallup has issued the results of a very interesting poll about environment and energy. Here are their findings: There's surprisingly broad support for more vigorous environmental enforcement and more clean energy, including about half of Republicans. The reason for the partisan gap is that there's such strong support among Democrats, not so much that all Republicans are anti-environmental. Maybe there are subsets of independent voters who share the anti-environmen...
CONTINUE READINGHow California could surpass $1 billion in cap-and-trade auction revenue by 2013
Last week I did a series of posts examining the amount and potential price ranges for allowances in California's upcoming cap-and-trade auctions for greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). Knowing the estimated auction clearing price plus the estimated number of allowances to be sold at auction tells us the estimated revenue from that auction. Several estimates of California GHG auction revenue have surfaced recently. Most prominent is probably the Governor's budget, which a...
CONTINUE READINGCould Self-Driving Cars Help The Environment?
As companies like Google pioneer technologies to allow cars to drive themselves, futurists have been imagining a world where autonomous vehicles rule the roadway. Using computer programs, map data, complex sensors, and soon the ability to "see" all vehicles within miles, these cars hold the promise of averting the vast majority of car accidents caused by human error, while passengers in the driver's seat can nap, work, and do anything but concentrate on driving. The fu...
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