Climate Change

Can Economists Predict AB32’s Impact?

A mildly interesting debate is taking place among the economists.  On Thursday, Bo Cutter and I published this opinion piece in the Sacramento Bee.   Bo and I are both supporters of AB32 but we are not “naive supporters” of this regulation.  I will speak for myself here and admit that I’m a modest man. …

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What Does Climate Change Mean for Water Rights?

Dan Farber and I, along with Berkeley economist Michael Hanemann, have a new report out on climate change and water rights in California.  The report—Legal Analysis of Barriers to Adaptation by California’s Water Sector—was prepared by Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, and it can be downloaded here.  The report was released …

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Drive a Stake Through Ethanol’s Heart!

Okay, that’s even worse than a mixed metaphor: that’s a Friedmanism.  But it still applies today. Reuters reports: Two U.S. governors asked the United States government on Tuesday to waive this year’s mandate for making ethanol from corn, adding pressure on it to relieve meat producers from high corn prices spurred by the worst drought …

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Energy Forecasts, Accuracy and Climate Change

The U.S.  Energy Information Administration (EIA) provides very important forecasts of energy prices, consumption, efficiency and so forth.  The EIA produces short, long term and annual outlooks that are widely regarded as among the best and most independent forecasts of the state of the nation’s energy use.  The agency even has statutory authority to operate …

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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 …

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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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Cruz, 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 …

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Paul 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 …

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A 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 …

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BREAKING 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 …

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