The federal Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report in December that takes a hard look at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) energy efficiency efforts and capital expenditure planning. The report recommends that (1) TVA complete its energy efficiency potential study and use that to inform its future energy efficiency efforts, and (2) that the [...]
Former Congressman Bob Inglis’ essay calls for conservatives to believe in the “power of free markets” and support a tax swap that creates a carbon tax because operators of power plants should be accountable for their actions. Inglis writes, Because conservatives know that there’s no such thing as a free lunch, we know that we’re [...]
Bob Inglis’ call to “simultaneously eliminat[e] all subsidies” for energy is another way that he believes we can use the “power of free markets” to make better choices about energy use. Although “subsidies” are often discussed, it is a concept that is hard to pin down. The World Trade Organization definition of a subsidy amounts [...]
As discussed in the main post, Price signals don’t always work, creating a meaningful connection between energy price signals and consumers is challenged by a number of market barriers. Those market barriers are particularly acute when it comes to energy waste (but are also present for customer-sited renewable energy); overcoming barriers to energy efficiency requires [...]
Bob Inglis’ call to rely on a carbon tax as the main weapon to fight climate change is based on the idea that price signals, or the “power of free markets,” are central to the solution to climate change. Paradoxically, ensuring that price signals connect meaningfully with the energy consumer often requires government regulation, mandates, [...]
This post provides notes and further explanation for the main post, Free market perspective already dominates the climate policy debate. Note 1 (on the equivalence of cap and trade to a carbon tax): Sebastian Rausch and his colleagues at MIT write that, “A cap and trade system with fully auctioned permits is equivalent in impact [...]
As Grist’s David Roberts might remind us, Bob Inglis’ recent climate change commentaries are a throwback to an era when policy and appeals to self interest had a role in national politics. A year after reasoned debate abruptly surrendered to unhinged anti-environmental sentiment, Bob Inglis’ perspective is barely heard by the most vocal members of [...]
Former U.S. Congressman Bob Inglis (R – SC) once again provoked organized climate change denialists with his recent essay, “Conservative Means Standing With Science on Climate” (Bloomberg Businessweek; a similar essay appeared in USAToday). Responses to his essay have been surprisingly muted; energy lobbyist Mark McKenna offered a superficial riposte, ClimateProgress simply re-posted the piece [...]
According to a new study from Citizens for Tax Justice, Duke Energy led five other Southeastern utilities in avoiding federal corporate income taxes. Compared to the statutory 35% corporate tax rate, Southeastern utilities paid about 10.5% of pre-tax profits in federal taxes during the 2008-10 time period. Duke’s effective tax rate of -3.9% (that is, [...]
For over a decade, states have been coasting along with policies that affect the market for key energy resources: small renewable energy generators and companies that practice cogeneration (also known as energy recycling, or combined heat and power). As advocates for consumer-friendly energy efficiency, we’ve learned that these same policies affect energy efficiency, particularly what [...]
