Energy
Pricing Carbon: How Would It Affect the Poor?
We need to put a price on carbon, but there is no reason why we should do so in a way that harms the poor.
CONTINUE READINGPost-Tsunami Japan Teaches the World About Energy Within Limits
Earlier this summer, I accompanied a class of renewable energy law students to a home in Vermont that is “off the grid”. The family lives quite comfortably – television, microwave oven, electric washing machine, sizable refrigerator. With the exception of a small diesel generator, which they use once or twice a year, they derive all …
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CONTINUE READINGCalifornia’s Role in the New Fuel Economy Standards
Dan rightly praised the good news about newly agreed to federal fuel economy standards for the 2017-2025 time frame that will reach 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025 (though there will be a review at midpoint and a possibility for readjustment if the 54.5 mpg standard proves too tough). In all of the press …
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CONTINUE READINGSome Good News, For a Change
The NY Times reports: On Friday, when President Obama is scheduled to announce even stricter standards — in fact, the largest increase in mileage requirements since the government began regulating consumption of gasoline by cars in the 1970s — the chief executives of Detroit’s Big Three are expected to be in Washington again. But this …
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CONTINUE READINGOn light bulbs, politics, and psychology
Dan has (understandably) been quite outraged at efforts in the Republican-controlled House to eliminate energy efficiency standards for light bulbs (which have been inaccurately portrayed as a flat ban on incandescent bulbs, even though new substitutes are being developed). While these efforts might be seen as purely ignorant orjust politically-opportunistic showboating, I think they in …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Greening of South Korea
Lincoln Davies has a nice post over at Environmental Law Prof about clean energy in South Korea. He discusses a conference relating to Korea’s planned change from a feed-in-tariff to a renewable portfolio standard as means of promoting clean energy. Most Americans aren’t aware of this, but Korea has embraced “green growth” as a national …
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CONTINUE READINGJerry Brown’s Push for Local Renewable Power
Local renewables – those photovoltaics, small wind turbines, etc. on people’s roofs, and in public spaces close to demand – how big of a role can they play in our renewable energy future? Berkeley and UCLA law schools wrote about that topic in In Our Backyard, and California’s Governor Jerry Brown made this question a …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Great Light Bulb War and the Modern GOP
Saving the 100 watt bulb seems to be a high priority for the House GOP. This issue is revealing about the political dynamics now at work on larger issues like the debt ceiling. Economically, the light bulb ban is a win for consumers: CFLs have a higher initial cost but more than pay for themselves …
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CONTINUE READINGBut Will You Love My Energy Source in the Morning?
In the wake of cataclysmic energy disasters occurring on opposite sides of the globe, some interesting regional and national reflections are currently underway that may–or may not–alter long-term energy futures in the U.S. and abroad. One development this week that drew surprisingly little public attention is that no less a personage than the Prime Minister of …
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CONTINUE READINGAttack of the Dim Bulbs
The country may be flirting with deadbeat status and risking another financial meltdown, but some people keep their eyes on the prize — they know what’s really important. The House of Representatives yesterday voted on the BULB Act, repealing the federal mandate to increase the energy efficiency of light bulbs. (The bill was considered so …
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