Transportation

Does Deregulation Hypercharge the Economy?

If the economics effects are that huge, you’d expect the unemployment rate reflect major regulatory or deregulatory moves.  It doesn’t.

EPA’s head sats that “EPA will be reconsidering many suffocating rules that restrict nearly every sector of our economy and cost Americans trillions of dollars.” If regulation and deregulation are that big a deal economically, we should clearly see their imprint on unemployment. It turns out that even the biggest regulatory and most dramatic deregulatory actions have no discernible effect on the job market.

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Sharing the Sidewalk with EV Charging Cords

CLEE Policy Brief Title Page; EV charger crossing the sidewalk. Title background image from Adobe Stock, Jens, file #760466824

New CLEE policy brief describes an innovative EV charging solution.

In cities throughout the US, electric vehicle (EV) drivers have found a creative, low-cost way to transfer electricity from their home to the curbside. You have probably seen it by now: a charging cord peeks out from a home and sprawls across the sidewalk–either beneath your feet or over your head–before plugging into a curbside-parked …

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State Climate Programs Under Trump – Little Drama, Steady Progress

Ignoring Trump, state have continued work on achieving their climate targets.

Despite all the drama in D.C., state governments have continued to make quiet progress in their efforts to expand clean energy and phase out fossil fuels.  These states are focused on tangible steps forward, not on capturing online clicks, so their efforts may escape notice. But the cumulative effect of these month-by-month, smaller-scale initiatives is significant.

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“What We Do Matters:” UCLA’s Charging Ahead Symposium

States and cities have a lot of tools to cut vehicle pollution. It’s time to break them out.

Trump is a bump. A nasty one, but a bump nonetheless, because the world is on the road to zero-emission fuels and vehicles no matter what. That was one takeaway from “Charging Ahead,” the UCLA Emmett Institute’s annual symposium held on April 9 — devoted this year to cutting vehicle pollution during the next four …

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Local EV Leadership During Federal Withdrawal

The clean mobility transition is in local hands.

The federal landscape for electric vehicle (EV) investment is laden with pause and uncertainty. High-profile program discontinuations–both planned and executed–threaten to disrupt EV deployment efforts, while unpredictable tariffs interfere with drivers’ ability to afford vehicles. As local leaders work to reconcile ambitious transport decarbonization goals with the current lapse in federal climate leadership, public planners, …

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Is Trump Good for the Oil Industry?

Not particularly, it would appear. If there’s an effect, it’s not big enough to hit the eyes.

No doubt, the industry would rather have Trump in office than Harris. But the effect on industry profits may only be incremental.   It would be great to see a rigorous statistical analysis by a finance expert, but a bump to oil profits isn’t obvious in share prices.

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Getting Creative on Vehicle Emissions

UCLA Law set to host a symposium on April 9 on ways to charge ahead on cutting emissions.

These are tough times for lovers of zero emission vehicles–and clean air.  I probably don’t need to recite the threats to both, but here’s a sampling: the Trump Administration has pledged to roll back federal air quality standards and mobile source emissions standards; is gutting funding for EV charging networks (and is even, maddeningly, shutting …

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Our 2012 Report Predicted the Future of Electric Vehicles in 2025: How Off Were We?

Time to open up the 2012 time capsule PDF

Back in 2012, CLEE and the Emmett Institute released a report called “Electric Drive by ’25,” with the relatively bold subtitle “How California Can Catalyze Mass Adoption of Electric Vehicles by 2025.” The report cited 2011-12 EV sales as reason for optimism on achieving mass adoption by 2025: Early results from the introduction of new …

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State-Level Actions To Decarbonize Aviation

New CLEE report explores the risks of federal preemption.

Aviation is a significant and growing source of greenhouse gas emissions. But the federal government in the United States has failed to address it so far. In response, some state policy makers and advocates are now considering legal avenues to effectively require the use of sustainable aviation fuels, which emit less carbon than traditional jet …

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Banking and Exchange Programs to Mitigate Vehicle Miles Traveled

The 1950s has been called the decade of the American Dream. The United States economy grew by 37 percent, and homeownership surged as suburban houses—equipped with their white picket fences—“sold like hotcakes.” But this American Dream has come at a steep cost. Let’s fast forward to today; more than half a century of government housing …

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