Climate Policy
The 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 …
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CONTINUE READINGWhat Did Romney Believe and When Did He Believe It?
Two days ago, I posted documentation about Romney’s views about climate change. Today, I want to discuss where he’s been consistent and when he has changed course. What’s causing climate change? Romney has been consistent in saying that the climate is changing. In terms of the reasons, however, he’s been cautious, hedging to varying degrees …
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CONTINUE READINGRed Mitt, Blue Mitt, Old Mitt, New Mitt
Mitt was once the governor of a Blue state. Now he’s appealing to voters in Red states. Perhaps it’s no surprise that New Mitt’s views are the opposite of Old Mitt’s views. A NY Times editorial this morning highlights Romney’s changes of position and just how far right he has moved on environment and energy …
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CONTINUE READINGWho Took the “Think” Out of Think Tanks?
The American Enterprise Institute is an interesting organization, often shrilly ideological but also scholarly from time to time. I was curious to find out what kind of research they were doing on climate change. I did find some interesting policy papers on their webpage on the topic of climate policy. But here’s the surprising part: …
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CONTINUE READINGAllowance distribution in California’s cap-and-trade program (Part I)
Yesterday, I described California’s GHG cap-and-trade auction and the likely constraints on the auction clearing price. Today I want to switch gears to the allowance distribution. As summarized in our recent paper on California’s auction revenue, once you know the number of allowances available at auction and the auction clearing price, you can estimate revenue. …
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CONTINUE READINGIs EPA regulation of carbon dioxide anti-democratic?
There’s been a lot of noise from House Republicans (and others) about how EPA regulation of carbon dioxide under the Clean Air Act is somehow an end-run around Congress or anti-democratic. But it is neither.
CONTINUE READINGSierra Club asks Gov. Brown to re-examine AB 32 cap-and-trade
On May 9, Sierra Club requested that Governor Jerry Brown “re-evaluate” the cap-and-trade rule promulgated by the California Air Resources Board. The Sacramento Bee has some initial reactions and you can read the original letter here. As noted in our earlier posts, CARB’s cap-and-trade rule has come under judicial scrutiny and its status is somewhat …
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CONTINUE READINGCan Obama’s Car Emissions Deal Work for Utilities?
Politico ran a little noticed article last week suggesting that the nation’s utilities are exploring whether they can cut a deal with the Obama Administration to regulate their greenhouse gas emissions. The idea is to model a deal after the plan the car companies entered into with the Obama Administration to extend California’s car …
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CONTINUE READINGCalifornia Environmental Blueprint: Environmental monitoring & modeling
This post is the second in our ongoing series on our Environmental Blueprint for California. In our Blueprint, we recommended that Governor Brown establish an independent, statewide agency or council devoted to compilation, modeling, prediction and presentation of environmental quality data. I want to elaborate on what this agency might look like and why we believe …
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CONTINUE READINGGoogle Earth Engine and Forest Offsets in California Cap-and-Trade
Last week, Google Labs released Google Earth Engine, an online platform for viewing and analyzing satellite imagery and data. The platform’s strengths are ease of use for viewing images, collaboration tools, and use of Google’s computing infrastructure to analyze the satellite data. Google intends to use the platform to, among other things, help developing countries …
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