Common Resources

How Energy Efficiency Features are Reflected in Home Prices

In a recent analysis of real estate data from Portland, OR; Austin, TX; and the Research Triangle region of North Carolina, we find, with colleague Todd Gerarden, that local “green” certifications appear to have a larger impact on sales prices for homes than the national Energy Star certification. We also find that Energy Star certification […]

Economic Challenges for New Nuclear Power

Along with increased reliance on wind and solar, a shift toward more nuclear power has frequently been cited as a way of lessening the carbon “footprint” associated with society’s dependence on fossil fuels. Alas, the likelihood of such a scenario appears to be dimming. For more than two decades, the nuclear share of total U.S. […]

The German Energy Experiment

The rapid change in Germany’s energy mix – the Energiewende, or “energy shift”—is readily apparent to any visitor. Towering wind turbines sprout from ridges, just as across much of Europe and parts of the U.S. The bigger surprise—and bigger change in just the last few years—is the increase in solar deployment. Not just rooftops, but […]

Subsidies for EVs: Good Policy or an Unnecessary Handout?

In this series of blog posts, RFF researchers Virginia D. McConnell and Joshua Linn take a look at the current state of the electric vehicles (EVs) and the effect of current and future policies on the market. Click to read the first, second, third, and fourth installments. It is clear from our earlier blog that electric […]

Mercury and Air Toxics Standards Analysis Deconstructed: Changing Assumptions, Changing Results

EPA regulations on mercury and other air pollutants currently under review are the subject of much debate for their potential costs and impacts on the electricity industry. In a new discussion paper, RFF colleagues and I examine the assumptions behind several studies that have analyzed the potential effects of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, […]

RFF Feature: Policy Options for Encouraging Home Energy Efficiency Improvements

New research by RFF’s Margaret Walls identifies the tradeoffs associated with choosing among loans, subsidies, and standards as policies to encourage energy efficiency improvements in homes. Read the full feature here.

Do Renewables Policies Promote Valuable Investments?

Last month, a big battle over the production tax credit (PTC) for wind ended with Congress granting a one-year extension. This month, the focus has shifted to another renewable energy policy: state renewable portfolio standards (RPSs). Just this week, the Heartland Institute recommended repealing Kansas’s RPS—the latest addition in a growing attack on state RPSs. […]

RFF Feature: Policy Options for Encouraging Home Energy Efficiency Improvements

New research by RFF’s Margaret Walls identifies the tradeoffs associated with choosing among loans, subsidies, and standards as policies to encourage energy efficiency improvements in homes. Read the full feature here.

Why the Wind Tax Credit is a Bad Way to Cut Carbon

Eligibility for the wind energy production tax credit (PTC), established by Congress in 1992, is set to expire at the end of this month, causing calls for action and inaction. Is this policy change a big deal for carbon emissions? Let’s take a closer look. Currently, the PTC provides renewable power projects with a corporate […]

Less Coal, More Gas, Less Carbon, Cheaper Power

Brad Plumer at the Washington Post wrote yesterday that coal power generation in the U.S. is in sharp decline—but market forces, not environmental regulation, are driving the recent trend according to analysis in a new Brattle Group report. The primary reason is natural gas prices. RFF research generally bears this out—and indicates that it should […]