Energy

Guest Blogger Ken Alex: Saving Electricity for a Rainy Day

Ken Alex is a Senior Advisor to Governor Jerry Brown and the Director of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research.  The views expressed in this blog post are his own. We are making progress in two more key areas, although California, for now, is not in the lead.  Thanks to new developments and a …

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No Keystone XL If It Would Increase Greenhouse Gas Emissions?

In his much-anticipated speech on climate policy, President Obama made an important statement about the approval process for the controversial Keystone XL pipeline project. He said that the project should not be approved if it would if it would “significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution.”  One question that this raises is whether the same …

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City of Los Angeles will promote widespread adoption of “cool roof” technology, citing benefits documented in Emmett Center report

One of the core goals of our environmental law programs at UCLA Law is to influence and inform public policy with our research.  I’m proud to say that our Emmett Center on Climate Change and the Environment is doing exactly that.  The City of Los Angeles, influenced by the Emmett Center’s work, is moving forward …

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What to expect from President Obama’s inaugural address

The countdown to President Obama’s January, 21 2013 inauguration begins: there are only ten days left for the President’s speechwriters to put the finishing touches on the President’s second, and final, inaugural address.  The inaugural address is the first of two important opportunities President Obama will have in the coming months to describe the course …

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California electricity consumers may receive cap-and-trade dividend

 As I mentioned on Monday, the 23.1 million greenhouse gas (GHG) allowances (current-vintage) sold at the cap-and-trade auction on Monday were all consigned to auction by utility companies. The $233 million generated by that sale must now be used by those utilities to the benefit of ratepayers. Last Friday, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) issued its …

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The Unintended Consequences of an Oil Boom

The idea of booming oil production sounds great, at least if  you put aside environmental issues.  For instance, in the current presidential race, one of the candidates has touted the advantages of becoming another Saudi Arabia.  But economists seem to delight in telling us why something that sounds terrific will actually come back to bite …

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The trouble with resource shuffling

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Chairman Jon Wellinghoff recently voiced concern that California’s cap-and-trade program could lead to unforeseen consequences that would upset energy markets. He was speaking about resource shuffling, and echoing a letter his fellow Commissioner sent to the California Air Resources Board (CARB) in August. What is resource shuffling? According to CARB, …

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Is It Bad Politics To Talk About the Environment?

In response to my post expressing disappointment about the treatment of environmental issues in last night’s debate, Dan posted this comment: I agree that the lack of discussion of the environment was disappointing. But we have to remember that the debaters were primarily aiming their remarks at a small segment of the U.S. public whose …

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Comments on FHFA’s Proposed Rule on Enterprise Writing Standards for PACE Programs

As we have chronicled earlier on this blog, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA)’s court-ordered rulemaking on Enterprise Writing Standards for Property-Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) programs resulted in thousands of public comments in response to the Agency’s Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR)—the overwhelming majority in support of PACE.  Today is the deadline for submitting …

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Give states control over energy leasing on federal lands?

Another element of the Romney energy plan that was announced this week is a proposal to turn over to the states the process of leasing of federal lands for oil and gas development.  The Romney campaign argues that this will result in quicker and cheaper leasing development than under current federal management. This seems to me …

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