Research that Informs Business and Public Policy- Addicted to Oil: U.S. Gasoline Consumption is Higher than Ever Lucas Davis
- I’m Not Really Down with Most Top Down Evaluations Maximilian Auffhammer
- Is the Regulatory Compact Broken in Sub-Saharan Africa? Catherine Wolfram
- If a Tree Falls in the Forest…Should We Use It to Generate Electricity? Meredith Fowlie
Author Archives: Lucas Davis
Addicted to Oil: U.S. Gasoline Consumption is Higher than Ever
August was the biggest month ever for U.S. gasoline consumption. Americans used a staggering 9.7 million barrels per day. That’s more than a gallon per day for every U.S. man, woman and child. The new peak comes as a surprise … Continue reading
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King Coal is Dethroned in the US – and That’s Good News for the Environment
This is the worst year in decades for U.S. coal. During the first six months of 2016, U.S. coal production was down a staggering 28 percent compared to 2015, and down 33 percent compared to 2014. For the first time … Continue reading
Move Over PEMEX
Gasoline stations in Mexico have all been exactly the same for decades. PEMEX, the state-owned behemoth has been the only show in town. Pull up to any of 11,400 stations nationwide and the experience is very similar: PEMEX stations selling … Continue reading
Do Energy Efficiency Investments Deliver During Crunch Time?
(Today’s post is co-authored with Judson Boomhower, who recently received his Ph.D. at Berkeley where he was a graduate student researcher at the Energy Institute and is now a post-doc at Stanford) Along with everyone else in Berkeley, we’ve enjoyed … Continue reading
Automakers Complain, but CAFE Loopholes Make Standards Easier to Meet
With gasoline prices averaging $2 per gallon, Americans are flocking to gas-guzzling vehicles. Last year was the biggest year ever for the U.S. auto industry with 17.5 million total vehicle sales nationwide. Trucks, SUVs, and crossovers led the charge with … Continue reading
Getting Energy Prices Right
Last month Meredith wrote about coal being too cheap and Max wrote about gasoline being too cheap. But what is the right price for energy? Nobody in recent years has done more to try to answer this question than Ian … Continue reading
New CAFE Standards: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
New vehicles sold in the United States have long been subject to a set of fuel economy regulations known as the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. CAFE has been tightened several times during the program’s 40-year history, but no … Continue reading
Don’t Be a Grinch When It Comes to Holiday Lights
We bought them more than a decade ago. Several sets of Christmas lights. Every year we decorate the tree listening to Willie Nelson’s Pretty Paper, the greatest Christmas album of all time. We have two boxes, adding up to a … Continue reading
Historic Opportunity to Reduce Global Fuel Subsidies
With crude oil prices under $50 per barrel this is an historic opportunity for Saudi Arabia and other countries to eliminate energy subsidies. Low crude oil prices are making the impossible possible. Back in August, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) … Continue reading
Are Clean Energy Tax Credits Equitable?
A new Energy Institute working paper finds that income tax credits for weatherization, solar panels, hybrids, and electric cars go predominantly to higher-income households. Over the last decade, U.S. households have received more than $18 billion in federal income tax … Continue reading
