Benefit-Cost Analysis of Funding Solar Generation and Energy Storage for Resiliency
This December 2019 analysis conducts a detailed benefit-cost analysis of fully subsidizing solar-paired energy storage systems in California’s wildfire threat zones. We find that the proposal narrowly passes such an analysis. more…
California Residential Electrification Memo
This May 2018 memo examines the prospects for complete residential electrification in California. It was written for the California Public Utilities Commission via the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley. more…
Revamped environmental law raises hopes for cleanup in China
March 14, 2015 | The Associated Press | BEIJING – People in China who want to take industries to task for fouling their surroundings have been rushing to file complaints and lawsuits this year in a test of legal reforms that toughen environmental penalties. more…
Brazil’s sugar cane mills race to keep up with ethanol boom
May 19, 2008 | McClatchy | ORINDIUVA, Brazil — Just a decade ago, the giant Moema ethanol and sugar mill in this corner of southeastern Brazil covered less than half of its current 173,000 acres. It produced mainly sugar. Now, fuels made from sugar cane have become Brazil’s second most-used energy source. more…
Amazon highway pits development against environment
August 15, 2007 | McClatchy | KILOMETER 129, HIGHWAY BR-163, Brazil – Luciano Costa and thousands of other Amazon residents would like to see the government finish paving a 1,100-mile highway, known as Highway BR-163. The Brazilian government has been promising to do so for more than 30 years. more…
China readies national carbon market to fight climate change
May 24, 2015 | The Associated Press | BEIJING – At first, the numbers and company names flashing on a big board in Beijing’s financial district suggest a booming market. A closer look indicates otherwise: The scrolling list rotates the same dozen or so trades, all from last year. more…
Coal gas boom in China holds major climate change risk
August 22, 2014 | The Associated Press | HEXINGTEN, China — Deep in the hilly grasslands of remote Inner Mongolia, twin smoke stacks rise more than 200 feet into the sky, their steam and sulfur billowing over herds of sheep and cattle. more…
Searching for Mecca
December 2013 | VICE | Malcolm L. Shabazz, the 28-year-old grandson of Malcolm X, crossed the border from California into Tijuana in early May for two reasons. His labor-activist friend, Miguel Suarez, had just been deported from the Bay Area, and Malcolm wanted to offer moral support. more…California regional centers spend without public scrutiny
November 21, 2010 | The Sacramento Bee | SACRAMENTO, Calif. — While the state weighed billions in social services cuts to bridge a gaping budget deficit, tax records show one state-funded nonprofit group paid its president a salary of $520,000 to oversee the housing and care of several dozen people with developmental disabilities. Download […] more…