Economics | Grist

Toward a more perfect invisible hand

Making buildings more efficient: rationalizing retrofit markets 5
Posted 3 days, 16 hours ago As I said in my last post, taking energy efficiency in buildings seriously means expanding our policy horizons beyond the blunt tool of raising energy prices. We have to think in creative ways about how to remove market and behavioral failures that inhibit cost-effective responses to today's energy prices. How can we make efficiency markets more rational and robust? What follows is not intended to be comprehensive, just to call out some of the bigger challenges and a few interesting attempts to overcome them. There are folks out there who know much more about this than me -- I hope they'll comment or email me with things to add.
Of price and men

Making buildings more efficient: looking beyond price 5
Posted 4 days, 14 hours ago The market for building efficiency is snarled with market and behavioral failures that prevent price signals from getting translated into action. Instead of merely raising prices further, policymakers ought to look into ways to correct some of those failures.
The $9 Billion Man

Clean energy opportunities 0
Posted 1 week ago Earlier this month, the Department of Energy announced $155 million worth of grants to clean energy projects -- specifically targeted to CHP, waste heat recovery, and district energy. There's an even better backstory.
Make the kids pay: The economic effects of climate change on future generations 0
Posted 1 week, 2 days ago The debate over the economics of climate change boils down to that very calculation: how much are we willing to pay today to avoid climate risks in the future? The simple fact is that as we continue to use fuels that contribute to global warming today, we place major economic burdens on our kids and grandkids tomorrow.
Hunting with Fishing Poles

Can perfect markets induce capital investment? 0
Posted 2 weeks ago
Just Freakin' Read It

Why the ‘SuperFreakonomics’ global-warming chapter is worth your time 12
Posted 3 weeks, 3 days ago There's plenty to jeer about in Superfreakonomics' treatment of global warming, but two ideas presented by the authors deserve greater discussion in the world of climate wonkery.
...reducing carbon will be very good for our economy overall...

Why Does Oklahoma Want To Drown New York? 0
Posted 3 weeks, 4 days ago
Jon Stewart praises ‘SuperFreak’ author 5
Posted 1 month ago On last night’s Daily Show, host Jon Stewart heaped praise on the contrarian approach to global warming taken by SuperFreakonomics author Steve Levitt, a University of Chicago economist.
Kerry smacks down Inhofe’s lies about the cost of climate policy 1
Posted 1 month ago At today's hearing on the Kerry-Boxer bill, Sen. Inhofe (R-Okla.) was spouting the usual lies about the high cost of the policy. Kerry responded:
Still affordable

Kerry-Boxer clean energy bill: Chairman’s mark and EPA analysis released 5
Posted 1 month ago At close to 11 p.m. EST, Boxer's office has finally released the chairman's mark of the Kerry-Boxer bill. This is the version of the bill that will be debated in hearings this week. Concurrently, the EPA has released its analysis of the economic impacts of the bill. These are both crucial documents that will see a lot of discussion in coming weeks. Here's just a few cursory notes.
Pretty words

Obama energy speech contained few policy specifics, but shaped forward-looking narrative 1
Posted 1 month ago Obama delivered a speech on energy at MIT on Friday, marking the kick-off for what is likely to be a protracted effort by the administration and Democrats in the Senate to pass the Kerry-Boxer clean energy bill.
They get the economics dead wrong, too, and their response to critics is full of misrepresentations, just like their book

Error-riddled ‘Superfreakonomics,’ Part 4 0
Posted 1 month, 1 week ago
The propitiously populist politics of permits

Bingaman hearing on pollution allowance allocation; progressive greens beware 17
Posted 1 month, 1 week ago When Kerry and Boxer introduced their clean energy bill earlier this month, it contained a huge gap: it said almost nothing about the allocation of pollution allowances under the cap-and-tr... er, pollution reduction and investment program. The reason for the omission is simple: Doling out what is effectively a huge new pot of money is a subject of considerable interest to many senators, and it's expected to help bring some recalcitrant Democrats on board. The Energy & Natural Resources Committee, under Jeff Bingaman, is holding a hearing on the subject today.
The enemy of the human wallet

Report finds massive hidden energy costs, mostly from coal 5
Posted 1 month, 1 week ago A new report from the National Research Council on the "hidden costs of energy" is, frankly, stunning. In a sane world, it would be headline news.
Who's my CBO? Who's my little CBO schnookums?!

How CBO budget scoring devalues efficiency ... WITH PUPPIES! 9
Posted 1 month, 1 week ago The CBO is in the news again, with the usual suspects hyping its (in reality quite optimistic) economic analysis. In the spirit of actually learning something from this episode, here's a look at a serious issue: how the CBO's budget scoring undercounts the potential for efficiency, systematically distorting energy policy in ways that favor delay, compromise, and defensiveness. The good news is that properly accounting for efficiency opens the door to clean energy policy that's fiscally responsible and environmentally accountable.
Nuclear nonsense

Stewart Brand’s nuclear enthusiasm falls short on facts and logic 197
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago Stewart Brand has a new book coming out, Whole Earth Discipline: An Ecopragmatist Manifesto. Brand argues, among other things, that environmentalists should reconsider nuclear power. Amory Lovins responds with a thanks, but no thanks.
A poke in the eye for corporate control

Nobel Prize in economics a big boost to commons and blow to corporate control 1
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago You'll be hearing a lot about the "commons" for the next few days. It's about time. There are celebrations taking place around the world -- and not just by people, but maybe in the plant and animal kingdoms as well -- for Oslo's award of the Nobel Prize for Economics to Elinor Ostrom.
‘SuperFreakonomics’ is ‘patent nonsense’ 6
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago The new book by the authors of the bestseller Freakonomics spreads misinformation about climate change, solar cells, and geoengineering. Here's the real story.
The Dalai Lama, a Nobel laureate, and a gym rat walk into a bar ...

Three faces of hope for climate change 3
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago After meetings with the Dalai Lama, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu, and President Barack Obama, Rep. Jay Inslee is brimming with optimism about our climate future. Find out why.
A FARMER SPEAKS

Richard Wiswall on the business of organic farming 0
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago Contrary to popular belief, organic farmers can make a living. Makenna Goodman talks to organic farmer Richard Wiswall, whose new manifesto The Organic Farmer's Business Handbook: A Complete Guide to Managing Finances, Crops, and Staff -- and Making a Profit, is a road map for both farming, and financial success.