Common Resources

Revised Maps of Shale Gas Regulation

Today, RFF is releasing a major update of our series of maps showing state shale gas regulation. The maps show 31 states’ regulations of 27 different elements of the development process, and have been some of our most popular and talked-about research products since their launch in July. Three big things have changed in this […]

The Economist, Shale Gas, and Mideast Oil

In this week’s leader on violent protests in the Arab world, The Economist gets it wrong on shale gas again: With [American] troops mercifully out of Iraq, their efforts to push the Israeli-Palestinian peace process going nowhere, and shale gas reducing their dependence on Arab oil, surely it is time for them to leave the […]

Energy, Environment, and the Party Platforms

Over the last two weeks, RFF scholars have critiqued the two major parties’ energy and environmental policies as laid out in their respective platforms. Here’s a quick look back.

The Democratic Platform: Energy Subsidies

This is part of a series of short posts in which RFF scholars will analyze the environmental plank of the Republican and Democratic Party platforms. This post looks at the Democratic platform. Previous posts analyzed the Republican platform. As with all posts on Common Resources, this and other posts in this series reflect the opinions of the authors […]

The Republican Platform: Similar Issues with Romney’s Energy Plan

UC Berkeley law professor Dan Farber lists the top ten problems he sees with Mitt Romney’s energy proposal. That proposal is different from the energy policies in the Republican platform we’ve reviewed here, but has a lot in common with it. Farber’s #2 problem is promises of energy independence: 2. It makes an unfounded claim to achieve energy […]

RFF Feature: US Energy Subsidies: Effects on Energy Markets and Carbon Dioxide Emissions

RFF researchers look at how federal energy-related spending programs and tax provisions impacted US emissions of carbon dioxide between 2005 and 2009, finding a change toward reductions in emissions over that time period. To read the piece in its entirety, click here.

The Democratic Platform: Energy (and Climate)

This is part of a series of short posts in which RFF scholars will analyze the environmental plank of the Republican and Democratic Party platforms. This week we’re looking at the Democratic platform. Previous posts analyzed the Republican platform. As with all posts on Common Resources, this and other posts in this series are the […]

Tough Liability Rules and Unintended Consequences

The Department of Justice is suing BP, seeking to recover damages for harms from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. These kinds of large environmental damage cases often (I would guess usually) settle. The case arising from the Exxon Valdez spill is the canonical example (litigation continued for decades but the federal government settled quickly). […]

The Republican Platform: An Orphaned Renewable Energy Policy

This is part of a series of short posts in which RFF scholars will analyze the environmental plank of the Republican and Democratic Party platforms. This week we’re looking at the Republican platform. Watch next week for a similar series of posts looking at the Democratic platform’s environmental agenda. As with all posts on Common […]

The Republican Platform: Energy Independence and Free Markets

This is the first in a series of short posts in which RFF scholars will analyze the environmental plank of the Republican and Democratic Party platforms. This week we’re looking at the Republican platform. Watch next week for a similar series of posts looking at the Democratic platform’s environmental agenda. As with all posts on […]