Amy Kaleita
Climate Change
Why the Going is Tough for High-Cost Legislation on Climate Change
Vol.4 No.7: July 19, 2010 Why the Going is Tough for High-Cost Legislation on Climate Change By Amy Kaleita, Ph.D., Senior Fellow in Environmental Studies, Pacific Research Institute For those favoring legislation on climate change, these should be the best of times. The Democrats, typically the party of the greens, ...
Climate Change
Report Card for the IPCC
The nations capital has been slammed with storms this winter, and so has the climate-change debate. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC) is now attempting to dig out from a scandal that policy makers and ordinary citizens alike will find instructive. In November, emails from the Climate Research Unit ...
Climate Change
Senate Climate Vote Usurps Authority, Endangers Democracy
Last week, the senate refused to take true responsibility for climate change legislation by letting the Environmental Protection Agency essentially usurp that authority. In a 53-47 vote, senators struck down Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s resolution of disapproval to overturn the EPA’s power grab to set climate policy. In a controversial ...
Environment
Inherit the Wind – the Reality Show
Investor-owned utility company National Grid agreed to a 15-year purchasing contract with Cape Wind, where the utility would purchase the project’s wind energy at 20.7 cents per kilowatt hour beginning in 2013, and increasing at 3.5 percent annually thereafter. Contrast this with the current average wholesale energy rate of 6 ...
Climate Change
How EPA Renewable Fuel Standard Threatens the Environment
Earlier this year, the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the final version of the advanced renewable fuel standard, known as RFS2. The new standard sets greenhouse gas emission performance standards for the nation’s transportation fuels. Requirements for annual volumetric use of renewable fuels more than double in a decade, ...
Agriculture
Same Old Water Policy Won’t Get the Job Done for California
Snowpack estimates have experts predicting an average or higher amount of runoff water from the spring snowmelt in California this year. Shasta Lake, the states largest reservoir, is standing at an average fill level for this time of year, though several years of drought have taken their toll. Lake Oroville, ...
Climate Change
Changing the Climate for Peer Review
In what has come to be called Climategate, emails hacked from a server at the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia were leaked online in November 2009. These emails among prominent climate scientists included evidence that some have been strategizing to abuse the peer-review process to keep ...
Agriculture
Antitrust Action Has Agricultural Consequences
The United States government recently announced plans to look into allegations of anti-competitive behavior among agribusiness companies, particularly Monsanto, the ag biotechnology giant. As this action unfolds, policy makers should keep some realities in mind. Biotechnology advances have been the source of an agricultural revolution, providing higher yields and offering ...
Energy Costs
The Costs and Uncertainties of Carbon Reduction Schemes
Earlier this month, a bill to implement a cap-and-trade system for carbon emissions passed the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. The Boxer-Kerry bill now moves on to the full Senate for consideration, where it will likely be combined with other climate bills. The House narrowly passed a similar ...
Agriculture
The Way in Which We Produce Our Food
San Francisco–The Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a free-market think tank based in California, released a new report examining the environmental and health concerns associated with genetically modified (GM) crops. The Way in Which We Produce Our Food, by Amy Kaleita, Ph.D., PRI senior fellow in environmental studies, concludes that genetically ...
Why the Going is Tough for High-Cost Legislation on Climate Change
Vol.4 No.7: July 19, 2010 Why the Going is Tough for High-Cost Legislation on Climate Change By Amy Kaleita, Ph.D., Senior Fellow in Environmental Studies, Pacific Research Institute For those favoring legislation on climate change, these should be the best of times. The Democrats, typically the party of the greens, ...
Report Card for the IPCC
The nations capital has been slammed with storms this winter, and so has the climate-change debate. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC) is now attempting to dig out from a scandal that policy makers and ordinary citizens alike will find instructive. In November, emails from the Climate Research Unit ...
Senate Climate Vote Usurps Authority, Endangers Democracy
Last week, the senate refused to take true responsibility for climate change legislation by letting the Environmental Protection Agency essentially usurp that authority. In a 53-47 vote, senators struck down Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s resolution of disapproval to overturn the EPA’s power grab to set climate policy. In a controversial ...
Inherit the Wind – the Reality Show
Investor-owned utility company National Grid agreed to a 15-year purchasing contract with Cape Wind, where the utility would purchase the project’s wind energy at 20.7 cents per kilowatt hour beginning in 2013, and increasing at 3.5 percent annually thereafter. Contrast this with the current average wholesale energy rate of 6 ...
How EPA Renewable Fuel Standard Threatens the Environment
Earlier this year, the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the final version of the advanced renewable fuel standard, known as RFS2. The new standard sets greenhouse gas emission performance standards for the nation’s transportation fuels. Requirements for annual volumetric use of renewable fuels more than double in a decade, ...
Same Old Water Policy Won’t Get the Job Done for California
Snowpack estimates have experts predicting an average or higher amount of runoff water from the spring snowmelt in California this year. Shasta Lake, the states largest reservoir, is standing at an average fill level for this time of year, though several years of drought have taken their toll. Lake Oroville, ...
Changing the Climate for Peer Review
In what has come to be called Climategate, emails hacked from a server at the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia were leaked online in November 2009. These emails among prominent climate scientists included evidence that some have been strategizing to abuse the peer-review process to keep ...
Antitrust Action Has Agricultural Consequences
The United States government recently announced plans to look into allegations of anti-competitive behavior among agribusiness companies, particularly Monsanto, the ag biotechnology giant. As this action unfolds, policy makers should keep some realities in mind. Biotechnology advances have been the source of an agricultural revolution, providing higher yields and offering ...
The Costs and Uncertainties of Carbon Reduction Schemes
Earlier this month, a bill to implement a cap-and-trade system for carbon emissions passed the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. The Boxer-Kerry bill now moves on to the full Senate for consideration, where it will likely be combined with other climate bills. The House narrowly passed a similar ...
The Way in Which We Produce Our Food
San Francisco–The Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a free-market think tank based in California, released a new report examining the environmental and health concerns associated with genetically modified (GM) crops. The Way in Which We Produce Our Food, by Amy Kaleita, Ph.D., PRI senior fellow in environmental studies, concludes that genetically ...
