Over at Bloomberg, Julie Johnsson and Mark Chediak document how low natural gas prices are reshaping electricity markets. Wind, nuclear, and coal all look expensive compared to natural gas generation: With abundant new supplies of gas making it the cheapest option for new power generation, the largest U.S. wind-energy producer, NextEra Energy Inc. (NEE), has shelved [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Environment’
The Natural Gas Glut is Reshaping Electricity Markets
Posted in Energy, Environment, tagged Coal, Energy, Environment, Natural Gas, Nuclear, Wind on January 18, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Taxes and Energy Policy
Posted in Budget, Energy, Environment, Politics, tagged Energy, Environment, Politics, Taxes on September 29, 2011 | 2 Comments »
Last week I had the opportunity to testify before two Ways and Means subcommittees–Select Revenue Measures and Oversight–about the way our tax system is used as a tool of energy policy. Here are my opening remarks. You can find my full testimony here. As you know, our tax system is desperately in need of reform. It’s needlessly complex, economically [...]
Will Budget Concerns Ever Influence Carbon Policy?
Posted in Energy, Environment, Politics, tagged Climate Change, Energy, Environment, Politics, Taxes on October 10, 2010 | 7 Comments »
Climate change legislation died an ignominious death in the Senate earlier this year. If you’d like to understand why, check out Ryan Lizza’s autopsy of the effort in the latest New Yorker. Lizza documents how the “tripartisan” trio of John Kerry, Joe Lieberman, and Lindsey Graham came up short in their effort to craft a [...]
Water Funds: Coase in South America (and New York)
Posted in Environment, Microeconomics, tagged Brazil, Coase, Colombia, Ecuador, Environment, New York City, Property, Water on October 3, 2010 | 2 Comments »
Rivers often create important resource conflicts. Downstream cities want clean water to drink. Upstream residents want to make a living, but that sometimes damages water quality. In the highlands above Quito, Ecuador, for example, residents often convert land to farming and ranching; that allows them to raise valuable crops and livestock, but weakens the land’s [...]
Nickels Matter: Pigou and the Plastic Bag
Posted in Behavioral Economics, Environment, Microeconomics, tagged Behavioral Economics, Environment, Taxes on September 20, 2010 | 10 Comments »
On January 1, Washington DC introduced a 5-cent tax on disposable shopping bags at grocery, drug, convenience, and liquor stores. The fee had two goals: to reduce the number of bags, in particular plastic ones, that end up blighting the landscape and to raise funds for cleaning up the Anacostia River. The fee appears to be succeeding on [...]
The End of Cap and Trade?
Posted in Energy, Environment, Microeconomics, Regulation, tagged Climate Change, Energy, Environment on July 12, 2010 | 2 Comments »
No, not for carbon. For sulfur dioxide. As noted by Mark Peters at the Wall Street Journal: The original U.S. cap-and-trade market, which succeeded in slashing the power-plant emissions that cause acid rain, is in disarray following the issuance of new federal pollution rules. The collapse in the pioneering market where power producers trade permits [...]
Pigou and the Plastic Bag
Posted in Budget, Environment, tagged Environment, Taxes on March 30, 2010 | 10 Comments »
The big news in Washington today are the early returns for the new DC bag tax. As of January 1, DC shoppers have to pay a 5 cent tax for each disposable plastic or paper bag that they get at grocery, drug, convenience, and liquor stores. The Washington Post reports that the DC government has [...]


