Author name: Michael Giberson

Who Should Be Able to Bid for Oil and Gas Leases on Federal Land?

3 Comments / Environmental policy / By

Michael Giberson At PERC Reports, Shawn Regan argues that rules preventing direct participation by environmentalists in federal land lease auctions leaves few options available to such groups other than lobbying for political protection (or worse): Under current federal leasing rules, leases cannot be held by environmental groups for non-consumptive use. Even if they are the …

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Speaking of Smoke: Oregon’s Only Coal Power Plant May Convert to Biomass, but Plan Has Many Unknowns

1 Comment / Electricity, Energy markets, Environmental policy / By

Michael Giberson The High Country News reports that Portland General Electric is considering shutting down its Boardman, OR, coal-fired power plant, with costs of Clean Air Act compliance cited as the cause.  However, another option under consideration is conversion of the plant to biomass, more specifically converted to use a torrefied Asian cane that would …

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Smoke Filled Rooms, Solar Power, and the Long Shadow of Grid Parity

Economics, Electricity / By

Michael Giberson An rambling complaint surfaced at TriplePundit.com (slogan: people, planet, profit.) linking a “number of articles questioning the economic viability of solar power [which] recently hit the streets” to “a new, well-oiled regime coming to power in Washington.” We could stop right here to consider that articles questioning the economic viability of solar power …

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Democratic Party Promoted Libertarian Candidates

2 Comments / Politics / By

Michael Giberson Democratic candidates and party organizations sent out many mailers before the last election promoting Libertarian candidates for office.  Scott Gustafson, blogging at Arizona Economics, posts the flyer promoting Libertarian candidate Michael Shoen in a race for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, paid for by the Arizona Democratic Party. (Another example, …

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Incentives and Fake Success in Medical Research and Public Policy

1 Comment / Politics, Science / By

Michael Giberson Al Roth quotes from an article in the Atlantic discussing the powerful incentives to publish badly done, probably false medical research dressed up as success. In a sense the problem is the same as with other academic “publish or perish” reward systems except the incentives in medical research can be much, much higher. …

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White House Advisors: Federal Loans for Renewable Power Projects Going to the Wrong Projects

1 Comment / Energy markets, Politics, Regulation / By

Michael Giberson From news reports: The federal loan guarantee program for renewable energy projects should either be fixed or scrapped, senior White House advisors wrote in a memo to President Barack Obama last week. Obama’s top environmental advisor Carol Browner, top economic advisor Lawrence Summers and Vice President Joe Biden’s chief of staff Ron Klain …

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A Reporter with an In-home Energy Monitor and a Blog

1 Comment / Electricity, Energy markets / By

Michael Giberson After months of paying a ‘smart meter’ surcharge on his power bill, Houston Chronicle energy reporter Tom Fowler finally had a smart meter installed by CenterPoint Energy several weeks back and more recently an in-home energy monitor. He’s blogging the revolution: Never mind tomorrow, what can a smart meter do today? My smart meter …

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National Renewable Power Standards? Still Not Practical

1 Comment / Electricity, Energy markets, Environmental policy, Politics / By

Michael Giberson Some news reports are suggesting the U.S. is now less likely to pass climate change legislation, but prospects for policies boosting renewable power may have improved slightly. Ever more timely, then, is this 2008 analysis of proposed national renewable portfolio standards by Jay Apt, Lester Lave, and Sompop Pattanariyankool: “A national renewable portfolio …

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Industry, Environmental Group Working on Shale Gas Drilling Rules

2 Comments / Energy markets, Environmental policy, Politics / By

Michael Giberson The Environmental Defense Fund’s Scott Anderson and Southwestern Energy EVP Mark Boling have been working together on proposed environmental rules to govern the use of hydraulic fracturing, a key technique in the development of shale gas resources. The Houston Chronicle reports: Energy companies and environmental groups have more often been adversaries than allies …

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