Steve Rayner -- a long-term climate policy expert and lead author of The Wrong Trousers: Radically Rethinking Climate Policy" (PDF) -- was featured this month in Wired Magazine's "2008 Smart List -- 15 People the Next President Should Listen To" with a letter declaring cap and trade won't work and new technology investment is critical. Here's the full letter:

Continue reading "Steve Rayner is featured in Wired Magazine's "Smart List 2008 - 15 People the Next President Should Listen To"" »

"The report says working toward a new global climate deal remains important. But interestingly, it also says the priority should be advancing technological solutions, creating incentives for populations across the globe to preserve their forests, and making the most vulnerable populations more resilient to heat waves and flooding."

-Andy Revkin, on a new report issued Monday by the European Environment Agency, the World Health Organization and the European Commission, about Europe's increasing rate of climate change and how these organizations suggest this warming should be mitigated.

As the election enters its endgame, Democrats and their environmental allies face a political challenge they could hardly have imagined just a few months ago. America's growing dependence on fossil fuels, once viewed as a Democratic trump card held alongside the Iraq war and the deflating economy, has become a lodestone instead. Republicans stole the energy issue from Democrats by proposing expanded drilling -- particularly lifting bans on offshore oil drilling -- to bring down gasoline prices. Whereas Barack Obama told Americans to properly inflate their tires, Republicans at their convention gleefully chanted "Drill, baby, drill!" Obama's point on conservation and efficiency was lost on an electorate eager for a solution to what they perceive as a supply crisis.

Read the full article...

"We're all worried about losing our jobs. Most of us say, 'I want this thing to pass, but I want you to vote for it--not me.' "
-Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis.

After a weekend of frenzied negotiations between the Bush Administration and Congressional leaders from both parties, the first Congressional vote on a plan to bailout the financial sector and avoid a meltdown in the global economy failed. The final tally was 205 for and 228 against.

The failure of the bailout vote sent stock prices tumbling yesterday in their worst free-fall in two-decades. The Dow closed down 778 points yesterday, or nearly 7 percent, and global credit markets are in distress.

Continue reading "Caving to Pressure, Congress Lets Bailout Fail" »

"[L]et's commit right now that any bailout profits will be invested in infrastructure -- smart transmission grids or mass transit -- for a green revolution."

-Thomas Friedman is making sense.

A large chunk of the reason we are in this current financial crisis is that investors were pouring money into the housing market, creating a bubble that inevitably burst. Investors put their money into sectors of the economy that are experiencing growth, and in the early years of this decade, the only sector that was experiencing consistent growth was housing.

The bailout being kicked around inside the beltway this week will do little more than maintain the liquidity of financial firms whose collapse could send devastating shockwaves around the global economy. Any regulation that is further imposed will serve to ensure that financial firms are a little more conservative in their leverage practices and their credit-swapping. However, in a sense, this only brings our economy back to square one.

Continue reading "Back to Square One, and Beyond" »

By Breakthrough Senior Fellow Roger Pielke, jr., cross posted from Prometheus

The AP covers the new reports of rapidly increasing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere:

The world pumped up its pollution of the chief man-made global warming gas last year, setting a course that could push beyond leading scientists' projected worst-case scenario, international researchers said Thursday.

The new numbers, called "scary" by some, were a surprise because scientists thought an economic downturn would slow energy use. Instead, carbon dioxide output jumped 3 percent from 2006 to 2007.

That's an amount that exceeds the most dire outlook for emissions from burning coal and oil and related activities as projected by a Nobel Prize-winning group of international scientists in 2007.

Continue reading "Carbon Dioxide Levels Rising Fast, Scientists Surprised, We Aren't" »

"If money isn't loosened up, this sucker could go down."

-George W. Bush, 43rd President of our Union, at a meeting of Congressional leaders to determine the structure and details of the Wall Street Bailout.

TGIF, folks. TGIF.

"I would also very much like to know that the bankers do not get to waltz
away from the mess they created without so much as a "You boys behave
yourselves!" from Uncle Sam. I find it extraordinarily easy to sympathize
with the bankers who genuinely believed that they had gotten better at
pricing credit risk. I also find it extraordinarily easy to sympathize with
people who dropped out of college to start a band. In neither case,
however, do I wish to reward this behavior with large stacks of unearned
money."

-Megan McArdle, on her blog at theatlantic.com

Conservatives and market fundamentalists have long criticized Breakthrough's investment-centered agenda by claiming that it is not the government's role to be an active player in the market. In an online debate on The New Republic this past January, Jonathan Adler from the National Review said that "government has an exceedingly poor record of picking winners and losers beforehand," a trope constantly repeated by conservatives as an argument that the government should not be investing in clean energy technologies. Newt Gingrich, participating in the same debate, entitled his argument "Let The Markets Work," arguing that the best way to transition to a clean energy economy was not through government investment but cash prizes for innovation to stimulate private investment in clean energy. This belief that the government has no role to play in the market has long been a major barrier to federal investments in a new clean energy system for America.

Continue reading "Where Do We Go From Here?" »

by Breakthrough Senior Fellow Roger Pielke, jr., cross posted from Prometheus

A lot of our work here focuses on the connections between expertise and decision making. Richard Posner of the University of Chicago suggests that the experts are at fault, by creating products and processes that decision makers failed to use correctly:

Continue reading "The Role of Expertise in the Financial Crisis" »

"The global financial turmoil has pulled nearly everybody out of their normal ideological categories. The pressure of reality has compelled new thinking about the relationship between government and the economy. And lo and behold, a new center and a new establishment is emerging."

-David Brooks, in his September 23rd New York Times column

Breakthrough's ongoing special coverage of the Financial Meltdown:

• Thought it couldn't get worse? Think again. Caving to Pressure, Congress Lets Bailout Fail and stock prices suffer their worst free-fall in two decades. Adam Zemel's got the scoop. (9/30/08)


• The bailout may take us back to square one, but Adam Zemel writes about what it will take to move forward (9/26/08).


• Senior Fellow Roger Pielke Jr. writes about The Role of Expertise in the Financial Crisis (9/24/08)


• Does the bailout mean the death of market fundamentalism? And what does it mean for our ability to truly invest in the future? Adam Zemel explores Where We Go From Here? (9/24/08)


• Adam Zemel asks Is there a Connection Between the Bailouts and the Patriot Act? (9/22/08)


• Michael Shellenberger ponders the current crisis and explores the Risks and Opportunities from the Coming Financial Bailout (9/22/08)

Check back for ongoing coverage...

"After reading this proposal, I can only conclude that it is not only our economy that is at risk, Mr. Secretary, but our Constitution, as well."

-Senator Chris Dodd (D-Co.), chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, expressing his reservations about Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's proposed bailout plan, which involves giving Paulson 700 billion in taxpayers' money with no oversight on how it is managed or spent.

Paul Krugman, in his most recent column for the New York Times, explains what's going on with our economy and the financial crisis. He divides his description into a 4-part causal chain:

>

"1. The bursting of the housing bubble has led to a surge in defaults and foreclosures, which in turn has led to a plunge in the prices of mortgage-backed securities -- assets whose value ultimately comes from mortgage payments.

2. These financial losses have left many financial institutions with too little capital -- too few assets compared with their debt. This problem is especially severe because everyone took on so much debt during the bubble years.

Continue reading "Confused about what is Actually Happening to the US Economy?" »

Andrew Sullivan, over at the Atlantic, thinks so (my thoughts after the jump):

"In the last few years, we have seen the executive branch declare itself outside the law - in prosecuting a war on terror. The law against torture has been suspended. The balance between the executive and legislative branch has been dismissed by signing statements and the theory of the unitary executive. The executive has declared its right to suspend habeas corpus indefinitely, to tap anyone's phones without court warrants and to detain and torture anyone it decides is an "enemy combatant." In that sense, we have already left the realm of constitutional government in favor of a protectorate outside the law promising to keep us safe (but never from itself).

But this new move to create a de facto dictator for the financial markets, to invest a Treasury secretary with unprecedented powers to buy and sell at close to a trillion dollar level - with no oversight or accountability: this is a new collapse in democratic life and constitutional norms.

These measures are enabling acts of a sort. And they are what Plato feared. I have been derided as a hysteric for my fear about what this administration has done to the constitution and to ancient liberties. My current worry is that I haven't been afraid enough."

Continue reading "Is there a Connection Between the Bailouts and the Patriot Act?" »

"What would be the dollar cost of not bailing out Wall Street? Try a number north of $30 trillion. (The awful math is detailed below.) That's why Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke were so scared last week. And, yes, I think "scared" isn't too strong a word. You don't think they convened an emergency nighttime meeting of congressional leaders and then walked out with something close to a blank check for a trillion bucks because they thought we were headed for an outright recession, even a fairly nasty one?"

James Pethokoukis, "Bailout Prevents Great Depression 2.0," US News & World Report

Financial meltdown is nearing the end of its first week and Congress is poised to consider $700 billion in emergency legislation. What are the implications for clean energy and climate? Here's my best guess.

1. Automakers will get their bail-out. The automakers want $25 billion, which looks like chump change against the $1 trillion bailout. It looks very much like they'll get it. The question is, what will we get for our $25 billion?

Continue reading "A Breakthrough Crisis? Risks and Opportunities from the Coming Financial Bailout" »

Politico and E&E News both report that the Senate Gang of 10 20 agreed to punt on their "all of the above" energy proposal until after the election. With the election looming and energy policy taking center stage in the run up to November 4th, partisan politics are too heated to advance any real compromise, a spokesman for Senator Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), one of the group's leaders told E&E ($ub req.)

"The thinking here is that the partisanship in Congress is stifling the debate we need to have on this. It is just too close to the presidential elections," said spokesman [for Sen. Conrad], Chris Thorne. Instead, Thorne said, the group plans to release a "statement of understanding" next week and then push actual legislation at a later time.

Continue reading "Senate "Gang of 20" Punts Amid Heated Partisan Politics" »

The New York Review of Books' most recent issue has a great article called "A New Bank to Save Our Infrastructure," by Everett Ehrlich and Felix G. Rohatyn. It is exactly the sort of thinking we love here at Breakthrough--an innovative recommendation that involves creating an institution that would use public investment to direct private capital towards infrastructure projects. The article opens:

"These are rare times of ferment in one of the most neglected fields of public policy--the nation's infrastructure, or what used to be known as public works, including roads, mass transit, bridges, ports and airports, flood control systems, and much else. We have been confronted with spectacular and tragic evidence of the inadequacy of these facilities in the failure of the levees in New Orleans and in the collapse of the I-35 bridge in Minneapolis. More generally, a recent report by the American Society of Civil Engineers concludes that America's infrastructure overall is close to 'failing' and deserves a grade of 'D.'"

Continue reading "Could A National Infrastrucure Bank Fix America's Public Works?" »

"Throughout US history, competent public investment decisions have been an essential complement to private investment, from the Louisiana Purchase and the Land Grant Colleges to the Interstate Highway System and the Internet."

-Everett Ehrlich, Felix G. Rohatyn, "A New Bank to Save Our Infrastructure," published in the New York Review, October 9, 2008 Edition

"When I taught a journalism course at Princeton a couple of years ago, I was captivated by the bright, curious minds in my class. But when I asked students what they wanted to do, the overwhelming answer was: 'Oh, I guess I'll end up in i-banking.'"

-Roger Cohen, from his September 17th column at the New York Times

By Breakthrough Senior Fellow Roger Pielke Jr., cross posted from Prometheus

Yesterday's New York Times had an article on the upcoming carbon dioxide auction of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) of 10 northeastern U.S. states participating in this new cap and trade program (h/t Adam Zemel at the BT blog). The evolving performance of RGGI should add weight to the argument that cap and trade is simply not up to the challenge of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Here is an excerpt from the NYT article:

The program is due to get off the ground in nine days, but already there are worries that it may fail to reduce pollution substantially in the Northeast, undermining a concept that is being watched carefully by the rest of the country, by Congress and by European regulators. . .

The concept has been praised by environmentalists and state officials. But the emissions cap was based on overestimates of carbon dioxide output, which has dropped sharply from 2005 to 2006 and is on a lower trajectory than anticipated.

Continue reading "Tax-and-Charade" »

Since 2004, greens have risen slowly but surely from "The Death of Environmentalism" pronounced by Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus. "An Inconvenient Truth," a new Democratic Congress, the green marketing frenzy - it seemed that greens had risen from the grave throwing punches, and it was only a matter of time before the final "tipping point" on global warming action was reached.

But this summer, environmentalism's coffin was buried once again. The failure of Lieberman-Warner in June was just the beginning -- two years ago, it would have been inconceivable for Democrats to cave in on offshore drilling, or for greens to oppose an energy bill crafted by Democrats. Environmentalists were completely destroyed by "drill, baby, drill." Indeed, a new era of escalating energy prices and economic crisis has provoked a paradigm shift in the national political climate. As Environment & Energy Daily reported yesterday (subscription req'd):

Continue reading "Environmentalism is Still Dead" »

On September 25th, power companies with carbon emitting plants in ten states up the northeast (Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont and Maine), along with financial institutions, environmental and other groups will participate in the first Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative auction for carbon credits. This regional cap-and-trade program will go into effect on January 1st of next year, holding carbon emissions to 188 million tons annually until 2014, and then scaling emissions back 2.5 percent every year until 2018.

However, it seems that the forces behind RGGI have learned little from Europe's three year old Emission Trading Scheme. Unlike the ETS, RGGI will be auctioning almost all permits, instead of issuing the vast majority, as the ETS did. However, RGGI has its own pitfalls. The cap of 188 million tons was set in 2004, based on projections by energy experts and political pressure from utilities to keep the cap at or above current emissions levels. However, the projected 188 million tons was based on assumptions that carbon emissions would increase, but after 2006 they actually began to decrease due to more mild weather and a slowing economy.

Continue reading "RGGI DOA " »

The energy battle unfolding in the halls of Congress carries one clear lesson: energy prices and economic insecurity present a profoundly more powerful political imperative than calls for environmental protection and climate action. Rising gas prices and plummeting stock prices have dramatically altered the political landscape around energy, creating a pivotal moment for clean energy and climate advocates.

Republicans successfully capitalized on the changing energy landscape to advance an expanded oil drilling agenda, pushing Democrats back with cries of "Drill Baby, Drill!" and seizing control of the energy debate for the first time since the 2006 election.

Democrats won a tactical victory yesterday, passing a true "all of the above" energy bill out of the House that authorizes expanded oil drilling and creates new renewable energy production requirements for electric utilities. Pelosi and the House Democrats forced all but 15 Republicans to vote No on a pro-drilling bill, calling their empty "we support an all of the above energy strategy" bluff.

But make no mistake: while this was a tactical win, when Nancy Pelosi's Democratic House passes a pro-drilling bill, you're looking at nothing less than a political earthquake. We're witnessing a fundamental realignment of the energy debate.

Continue reading "A Political Earthquake: Pelosi's Democratic House Passes Pro-Drilling Bill" »

By Roger Pielke, Jr., crossposted from Prometheseus

The BBC reports today that the United Kingdom may be on the verge of a major mismatch between energy supply and demand:

The UK will experience prolonged power cuts in about five years unless urgent action is taken now, a report warns.

It said a third of generation capacity was due to be decommissioned by 2020, but was not being replaced fast enough.

The report, by nuclear supporting Fells Associates, said new reactors would not be ready in time, and questioned spending on renewable energy.

Energy Secretary John Hutton said the report overstated the risks and that the issue was a national priority.

Continue reading "Tough Choices for UK Energy Policy" »

"Frankly, Americans are closer to Paris Hilton than either party on energy solutions."

-Jeff Navin, political strategist and researcher, on the 2008 energy debate.

The House voted yesterday and passed the Comprehensive American Energy Security and Consumer Protection Act. The bill is truly an "all of the above" set of solutions, including:

• Royalty reform to ensure that oil companies are paying for the land that they lease from the government


• Tax subsidy repeals on the "big five" oil companies, along with closing other loopholes to make sure oil companies are paying their fair share


• Releasing almost 10 percent of the strategic petroleum reserve to help drive down gas prices at the pump


• Extended and expanded tax incentives for renewable electricity and energy generation, energy efficient homes, buildings and appliances, and incentives for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles


• Taking royalties from decade old drilling leases and invest in clean energy and energy efficiency technologies


• A mandate for utilities to be providing 15 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2020


• And, the kicker: expresses the sense of congress that the Renewable Fuel Standard should ensure that every region can be a producer of cellulosic biofuels from a vast array of feedstocks.

Continue reading "Democrats: Party in Power or Powerful Party?" »

"Conservatism was once a frankly elitist movement. Conservatives stood against radical egalitarianism and the destruction of rigorous standards. They stood up for classical education, hard-earned knowledge, experience and prudence. Wisdom was acquired through immersion in the best that has been thought and said.

But, especially in America, there has always been a separate, populist, strain. For those in this school, book knowledge is suspect but practical knowledge is respected. The city is corrupting and the universities are kindergartens for overeducated fools."

--David Brooks, in his September 15th column for the New York Times

In the first half of 2006, momentum was building up towards a "tipping point" of public perception on climate change. In January, Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" had debuted at the Sundance Film Festival, and that summer, it would become the (at the time) third highest grossest documentary film in the United States.

Also in the early months of 2006, support for action on global warming amongst evangelicals garnered media attention nationwide. 86 Evangelical leaders had signed on as charter signatories to the "Evangelical Climate Initiative," including such influential leaders as Reverend Rick Warren, author of "The Purpose Driven Life."

Continue reading "Evangelical Support Falls Short" »

Cross posted from Prometheus, by Breakthrough Senior Fellow Roger Pielke, jr.

This week's issue of The Economist has an interesting quote from Al Gore in an article about how environmentalists are coming to embrace adaptation:

"I USED to think adaptation subtracted from our efforts on prevention. But I've changed my mind," says Al Gore, a former American vice-president and Nobel prize-winner. "Poor countries are vulnerable and need our help." His words reflect a shift in the priorities of environmentalists and economists.

For years, greens said adaptation--coping with climate change, rather than stopping it--was a bit like putting out a fire on the Titanic: desirable, no doubt, but the main thing was to change course.

Continue reading "Al Gore Comes Around on Adaptation" »

In late July, the Breakthrough Institute issued a call for a National Energy Education Act to pour billions of federal dollars into new, clean energy education and research, publishing an op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle, Baltimore Sun, and releasing a two-page policy brief.

Last Wednesday, representatives from several of the nation's top universities took up these calls in testimonies to the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.

Continue reading "University Leaders Call For Clean Energy Research & Education" »

by Roger Pielke, Jr.
cross-posted from Prometheus

The debate over new oil drilling in the United States usually breaks down into a debate over the effects of any new supplies on the price of oil. Some say that the effects are marginal, and thus pretty much irrelevant to the longer-term challenge of transitioning away from fossil fuels, while others say that the the effects are positive and work toward getting the U.S. off of foreign sources. In this debate, there are valid arguments on both sides, but the "drill or not to drill" debate itself misses what seems to be the elephant in the living room, which has been discussed in today's Wall Street Journal:

Continue reading "Eyes on the Prize: why Windfalls will Change the Drilling Debate" »

Today's top story at Climate Wire is "Wall Street sees national carbon market at least five years away" (subscrip. req'd):

Continue reading "Carbon Pricing: 5 Years Away?" »

by Adam Solomon Zemel

The energy debates over the summer, coupled with the current presidential election campaign, have shifted the political landscape in America remarkably. Just three months ago, the democratic leadership was firmly in the green camp when it came to offshore drilling.

On July 10th an article from TheHill.com led:

"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday shut the door on expanding oil and gas drilling beyond areas that have already been approved for energy exploration..."

In fact, things were looking bright for greens, who felt confident in their ability to move new climate legislation--the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act--through both houses of congress due to a democratic party that had finally warmed up to taking action on global warming. The summer of 2008 looked like it might finally be the era greens had been waiting for.

But things started going downhill on the first Friday of June when L-W failed to even get cloture and make it past debates. Gas prices were already starting their climb to the far side of four dollars, and it was clear to Dems that if they didn't want to be ousted in November, they couldn't enact legislation that would raise gas (and electricity and heating) prices even further.

Continue reading "Does the Energy Debate Signal the End of Green Influence in Washington?" »

By Roger Pielke Jr, Cross posted from Prometheus

I just heard an interesting talk by Michael Celia, chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Princeton. The talk (abstract in PDF) was remarkably bullish on the idea of geologic sequestration, even though Prof. Celia emphasized that he did not see his role as an advocate for CCS. Points that I took from the lecture:

1. Storage reservoirs are not an issue for CCS to make a major contribution to the problem. Celia spoke of 2-3 "wedges" but this was not expressed as a ceiling.

2. Leakage seems to be a non-issue, in some respects, but a lot hinges on how the policy process defines "leakage". From the standpoint of contributing to less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, leakage appears to be rather small, based on his research.

Continue reading "Michael Celia on CCS" »

By Adam Solomon Zemel

The plan for House Democrats to introduce a catch-all energy package that calls for renewable energy mandates, efficiency standards and new oil industry tax provisions in addition to expanding offshore drilling has become a highly anticipated Democratic victory. The strategy is to force Republicans to vote "nay" to offshore drilling because they cannot agree to aggressive renewable mandates and increased taxes on oil companies. Many moderate leftists would call this plan "savvy," and the big greens, sensing an opportunity to reach regular voters, have come out in support of drilling as part of a larger energy plan that will reduce energy prices in the near and long term.

It's good to see enviros meeting citizens where they're at, not to mention showing the good sense to react when they see that voters are naming energy as one of the top three issues of the campaign and facing the country. As (bipartisan) consensus around the need to frame a new energy policy builds, it is becoming clear that great strides forward in forming an energy plan for our era could be taken in the next few months, possibly even in the first 100 days of the next presidency. The greens, by signing on to this new "all of the above" plan, are insuring their seat at the table for the discussion.

Or so they think.

Continue reading "Will Greens Keep Their Seat at the Table in the Energy Debate? " »

"There also seems to be some kind of psychological compensation mechanism at work among corporate and Hollywood elites: that it's OK to be a runaway consumer so long as you theatrically denounce consumption."

Gregg Easterbrook, in his review of Thomas Friedman's new book, "Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need A Green Revolution--And How It Can Renew America"

Here's a question for all us greens: why do we call ourselves "green"? Why has the mantra stuck for so long? And is it a symbol we should continue to promote?

I've always avoided using "green." As a clean energy advocate, I strive to avoid association with traditional environmental stereotypes -- and in my experience, "green" evokes environmental culture. Many other sustainability and climate advocates have made similar choices. Adam Werbach even launched what he envisions as the evolution of sustainability, "BLUE."

Continue reading "The Folly of Green" »

by Siddhartha Shome

Fareed Zakaria's new book, "The Post American World" is thoroughly engaging and insightful. It is, he says, "not about the decline of America but rather about the rise of everyone else." About half the book is devoted to describing how China and India had lost their creativity and their dynamism over the last few centuries, and how today the spread of modernity is bringing a new vitality to these societies. Zakaria is a perceptive observer and provides an engrossing account of how these two societies are negotiating modernity and globalization in their own different ways. It is all very compelling and thought provoking. Being an Indian, I read these sections on India with particular interest.

Continue reading "A Rising Post-American India" »

"That was a nonstarter for us."

- University of California spokesman Dan Mogulof, on why a deal with tree-sitters fell through after they demanded immunity for tossing their human excrement at police. (NYT)

With Americans looking to Congress for relief as prices spike at the pump, the future of American energy policy has quickly become the biggest political battle of the new century. Breakthrough Institute dives into debate...

Continue reading "News Roundup: Energy Defines a New Political Landscape" »

By Adam Solomon Zemel

The biggest new book of the fall is Thomas Friedman's Hot, Flat and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution, and How It Can Renew America. Here he is in a nutshell:

America is always at its most powerful and most influential when it is combining innovation and inspiration, wealth-building and dignity-building, the quest for big profits and the tackling of big problems. When we do just one, we are less than the sum of our parts. When we do both, we are greater than the sum of our parts--much greater.

I applaud Friedman's grand, inspiring rhetoric, but am disturbed that he has fallen back on the failed policy agenda of green groups.

Continue reading "Rhetoric and Reality in Friedman's "Hot, Flat and Crowded"" »

Amid rumors of a possible Republican-driven government shutdown over energy policy, one thing is clear: energy is going to be the political battle of the year, and Republicans are ready to play dirty. From E&E Daily (subscription req'd):

Continue reading "Playground Politics" »

By Alisha Fowler, Breakthrough Institute

The Republicans have been pounding the Democrats on energy policy so far this summer, effectively adopting an "All of the Above" approach (at least in terms of their messaging) to solving our energy price woes. The Democrats' responses, on the other hand, have failed to frame the debate on their terms, instead offering scattered solutions and saying "no!" to the Republicans' plans.

The Democrats, however, announced they plan to take back the debate as they return from recess next week and head into the fall. According to Congressman Markey (D-MA), they will deploy a counter-strategy capable of doing "a political reverse takedown on the Republicans."

The Democrats will test the Republicans with their own "All of the Above" strategy that will embrace offshore drilling as it calls for a renewable energy mandate, energy-efficiency measures for buildings, and oil industry tax provisions.

As the Republicans chew on that, I also have to wonder if the Democrats are really paying attention, once again, to what truly matters when it comes to energy policy in 2008.

Continue reading "All of the Above and What Matters Above All" »

by Adam Solomon Zemel

David Wheeler at the Center for Global Development published an econometric analysis of the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act's failure in Congress just a few months ago. The report, entitled, "Why Lieberman-Warner Failed," is an analysis of the June 6th cloture vote to end debate and the variables that could most easily predict each senator's individual yea or nay on whether to bring the bill to a vote over authorization. I read through the analysis and conclusions and overall found a mixed bag with some good conclusions about what is impeding climate legislation, but that underestimated the uphill struggle market-based carbon-regulation legislation would face.

The bulk of the paper is an analysis of the cloture vote, which failed to get its necessary 60 votes by a dozen, while 16 senators were not in senate to vote. Wheeler uses variables such as a state's proportion of power from fossil fuels, median state per capita income, senator's degree of political conservatism, senator's party affiliation, senator's gender, energy sector campaign contributions, and degree of risk from climate change-related disasters to see if any of these variables could predict with accuracy the senator's vote for or against cloture.

Continue reading "David Wheeler Gets It Right, but Not Exactly" »

Add another voice to the cacophony of warnings about our national innovation deficit. The Sunday Times profiled Judy Estrin, a Silicon Valley veteran who has spent her entire career working in technology and innovation. Estrin is worried about the country's future competitiveness in technology:

Continue reading "A National Innovation Deficit" »