Environmental policy

Will Nebraska Hold Up Keystone Xl Pipeline? and Other Energy Stories in the News

1 Comment / Energy markets, Environmental policy / By

Michael Giberson A few items of interest in the news today: Associated Press, Oil Pipeline Opponents Pin Hopes on Nebraska – Fears of contaminating the Ogallala Aquifer have led agriculture-dependent Nebraska to be way of the pipeline and the potential for spills. No matter that any break in the pipe would only result in very …

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Interstate Commerce in Electric Power – Arizona Policymaker’s Two-faced View

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

Michael Giberson Yesterday the staff of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Az) conducted a “Solar Summit” in Washington, D.C. You can watch all three hours of the program here, or maybe you’d rather read the overview provided by Phil Riske at the Rose Law Group Blog, “Mayes, Spitzer bemoan congressional Republicans ‘retrenching’ against renewable energy funding and …

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Raising Mpg Standards, Part 2: Morris Well Explains the Relative Advantages of Raising the Gasoline Tax

2 Comments / Energy markets, Environmental policy, Regulation, Transportation / By

Michael Giberson At the Freakonomics blog, transportation scholar Eric Morris favors President Obama’s recent deal to dramatically raise CAFE standards (Corporate Automobile Fuel Economy standards) by 2025. A gasoline tax would be far superior public policy, he said, but it won’t work politically. Because he thinks CAFE standards do work, technically and politically, he said we should go with …

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Raising Mpg Standards, Part 1: Morris is Not Persuasive in His Claim That Cafe Works

1 Comment / Energy markets, Environmental policy, Regulation, Transportation / By

Michael Giberson At the Freakonomics blog, transportation scholar Eric Morris favors President Obama’s recent deal to dramatically raise CAFE standards (Corporate Automobile Fuel Economy standards) by 2025. A gasoline tax would be far superior public policy, he said, but it won’t work politically. Because he thinks CAFE standards do work, technically and politically, he said …

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Epa to Power Industry: Don’t Worry About Reliability, We Can Grant Waivers

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

Michael Giberson Even an article in the New York Times is characterizing the spate of EPA regulations, recently issued or coming shortly, affecting the electric power industry as a “cascade.” Regional power grid operators have been reviewing their reliability projections and becoming alarmed. Here’s Matthew Wald in the Times: WASHINGTON — As 58 million people …

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At Freakonomics, the Realization That State Solar Power Policies May Be Less Than Optimal

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

Michael Giberson File it under “Ya think???” A post at Freakonomics by Steve Sexton concludes that California’s solar power subsidies may not be making the best use of the technology. Sexton points out, for example, the 1,923 residential rooftop systems installed in cloudy San Francisco rather than sunnier California locations: If San Francisco’s residential solar …

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Open Up Bidding for Oil and Gas Leases on Federal Lands

4 Comments / Energy markets, Environmental policy, Regulation / By

Michael Giberson PERC’s Shawn Regan argues in favor of allowing environmental groups to bid in federal auctions for oil and gas development leases, a way to help ensure that use of federal lands reflects both the value of energy resource exploitation and the value of protecting those lands from development. The theory is that if …

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Advisory Committee’s Fracking Report Spurs Outpouring of Spin

Energy markets, Environmental policy, Politics, Regulation / By

Michael Giberson Even before the natural gas subcommittee to the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board released it’s “Ninety Day Report” on hydraulic fracking today, anti-fracking groups shifted their spin operations into high gear. On Monday, a letter to President Obama sponsored by 68 groups called on him to “employ any legal means to put a …

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Gasoline Taxes and Cafe Regulations

4 Comments / Economics, Energy markets, Environmental policy, Politics, Regulation / By

Michael Giberson Most of the current 18.4 cents per gallon federal gasoline tax is set to expire at the end of September, and there are some indications that it may become the occasion for the next big political fight in Congress. See Politico and Platts for background. Grover Nordquist, of Americans for Tax Reform, says …

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