CAFE – Knowledge Problem

On Trump’s Energy Policy: Big Players Are Bad News for Energy Policy

Energy markets, Environmental policy, Politics, Regulation / By Michael Giberson

My commentary, “Trump’s policy may undermine pro-growth intentions,” appears in the October 2016 issue of Nature Energy. Here is one of my favorite parts: Trump’s emphasis on energy independence, in North Dakota and elsewhere, has been common among both Republicans and Democrats. President Richard Nixon declared energy independence a priority in an effort to blame the Organization …

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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

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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Gasoline Taxes and Cafe Regulations

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

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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A Problem with Market-Based Approaches to Emission Reductions

3 Comments / Energy markets, Environmental policy / By Michael Giberson

Michael Giberson Market-based approaches to regulating emissions are the new conventional wisdom, according to Robert Stavins, and it would be hard to disagree. Among proponents of regulating greenhouse gasses in the United States, the big debate is over which of two market-based approaches to regulating emissions should be pursued: emission tax or cap-and-trade. Is anyone …

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“Congress Didn’t Intend to Create Suvs”

1 Comment / Environmental policy, Liberty, Politics / By Michael Giberson

“Ironically, it was the fuel economy standards adopted by Congress in 1975 that set the stage for the later surge of gas-guzzlingSUVs and light trucks.”