Energy
Peak Oil Prices?
Oil prices are currently being pushed up by uncertainty about supply from the Middle East. Well before that crisis, Deutsche Bank was predicting $175/barrel oil five years from now. Predicting future oil prices is a tricky venture, and the track record for past predictions has been mixed. The two factors that foretell price increases over …
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CONTINUE READINGMichele Bachmann’s Unconstitutional Light-Bulb Bill
Congress can repeal the light bulb requirement (or not). It can mandate that an executive agency like DOE or EPA decide the three issues specified by Bachman. But Congress can’t make the validity of the light bulb requirement turn on a determination by GAO.
CONTINUE READINGDesigning City Streets That Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions
In the U.S., city planners have typically designed streets to enhance the comfort of the driver. Unfortunately, the very qualities that serve this goal tend to discourage foot traffic, bicycles, and transit use. The result is that standard street design tends to encourage activities that increase greenhouse gas emissions, and discourage more efficient ways to …
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CONTINUE READINGIndia Coal Tax to be Used for Carbon Sinks and Clean Energy Technology
This is how you are supposed to do it. Via the Hindu, Indian Finance Minister Mukherjee’s Budget uses carbon charges to combat climate change: The [tax] slapped on coal in last year’s budget will help pay for schemes to protect and regenerate forests and clean up polluted sites announced in this year’s Budget. Finance Minister Pranab …
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CONTINUE READINGGreat Sources on the BP Oil Spill
The National Commission has added some valuable additional material to its cite: A multi-media resource, especially useful for students and journalists. For those who want to dive deeper, the Chief Counsel’s report is a great resource. It presents a good deal of evidence unfavorable to BP, but also significant criticism of Transocean and Halliburton. Of …
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CONTINUE READINGJudge Feldman is still mad
Cross-posted at CPRBlog. You may remember Judge Martin Feldman from his decisions last summer enjoining enforcement of Interior’s first effort at a deepwater drilling moratorium, and more recently declaring that the Department must pay the legal fees of the plaintiffs in that case because it was in contempt of the injunction order. (For my take …
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CONTINUE READINGCounting the cost of coal
The Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School has a new report sort of out on the life-cycle costs of coal production and combustion. I say “sort of” out because the only document I’ve been able to find is a brief summary, without methods or references, posted by Ken Ward at …
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CONTINUE READINGPutting Cooperation Into Cooperative Federalism
When federal law tells a federal agency to consult with the states before issuing its rules, what is the agency obliged to do? Is it enough to allow the states to file comments on a proposed rule, or to invite their representatives to speak at a public hearing? According to the recent Ninth Circuit Court …
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CONTINUE READINGNot Enough “Green” to be Green?
The Washington Post has details about the budget proposal. Here’s the information on EPA: President Obama’s proposed budget provides $9 billion for the Environmental Protection Agency, noting that that amount represents a $1.3 billion decrease from the previous budget year. But that’s unlikely to satisfy Republicans in the House who are sharpening their knives to …
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CONTINUE READINGThe World in 2050: Economics and Resources
This is a second post on Laurence Smith’s new book, The World in 2050. I posted previously about demographic projections, but the economic and resource projections are also notable. Here are some important ones: Conventional oil is at or near its peak. Remaining oil will be increasingly expensive to obtain. Even with improved efficiency, India …
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