Policy Topics

Energy and Environment

Showing 271 - 300 of 648 results

Working Papers

Trusting in the Future: The Re-Emergence of State Trust Funds in the Shale Era

August 12, 2015

Barry Rabe, Rachel Hampton

Energy-producing states confront numerous challenges related to the boom-and-bust of resource extraction, including substantial fluctuation in revenue produced by severance taxes. Revenues surge as drilling expands during booms, creating many...

IEEP

Belief in Global Warming Among Americans Gradually Increases Following the Winter of 2015

July 1, 2015

In the wake of a memorable winter season in the United States that included both record cold and snow in the Northeast and historic warmth and drought in the West, American views regarding the existence of global warming remain largely unchanged...

IEEP

Widespread Public Support for Renewable Energy Mandates Despite Proposed Rollbacks

June 1, 2015

In light of recent attempts in many state legislatures to repeal or weaken renewable portfolio standards (RPSs) in the 29 states that have adopted them, the latest version of the National Surveys on Energy and Environment (NSEE) gauged public...

Working Papers

Seasons Gone By: An Examination of Individual Perceptions of Past Weather and Their Views on Global Warming

June 1, 2015

Christopher Borick, Erick Lachapelle, Barry Rabe

A growing body of literature has demonstrated a relationship between an individual’s personal experience with weather and their views on the existence of global warming. In particular recent studies have shown that temperature and precipitation...

Student Working Papers

The Status of New Zealand’s Emissions Trading Scheme

June 1, 2015

Kerri Metz, CLOSUP Policy Analyst, Nina Tannenbaum, CLOSUP Policy Analyst

The aspects of New Zealand’s program under the Kyoto Protocol, as well as several others, will be analyzed to determine their success in reducing New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions since the nation’s commitment and subsequent creation of the ETS...

IEEP

Cap-and-Trade Support Linked to Revenue Use

June 1, 2015

The Obama Administration’s creation of the Clean Power Plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the electric power sector has renewed interest in possible state or regional adoption of cap-and-trade programs to meet mandatory reduction targets....

IEEP

Public Perceptions of Hydraulic Fracturing in Three Marcellus Shale States

May 1, 2015

Extraction from the Marcellus Shale—one of the most robust natural gas deposits in North America—represents the potential for economic growth and environmental degradation. There is little federal oversight concerning natural gas extraction...

IEEP

Neighbors Diverge: An Explanation for the Differences in Silica Sand Mining Activity in Wisconsin and Minnesota

May 1, 2015

This paper provides a brief discussion on the demand for silica sand mining in Wisconsin and Minnesota and explores the reasons for different levels of industry development in the two states. These reasons include geology, rail transportation...

Working Papers

Taxing Fracking: The Politics of State Severance Taxes in the Shale Era

April 1, 2015

Barry Rabe, Rachel Hampton, University of Michigan

States producing gas and oil have long levied severance taxes at the point of extraction, commonly placing most revenues into general funds. These taxes have assumed new meaning in many states amid the expansion of gas and oil production...

Working Papers

The Durability of Carbon Cap‐and‐Trade Policy

April 1, 2015

Barry Rabe

The surge of American states’ adoption of policies to mitigate climate change in the late 1990s and 2000s appeared to constitute a first wave of expanding use of market-based policy tools such as carbon cap-and-trade in the absence of binding...

Working Papers

A Survey of Environmental Policies Among the States: 2015

March 1, 2015

Heather Kirkpatrick

The purpose of this study is to begin to develop a comprehensive assessment of the relative activity of the US states in developing environmental policies. We did this by developing eleven policy categories varying across different environmental and...

Acceptance of Global Warming Among Americans Moderately Increases in Late 2014

February 1, 2015

The fall 2014 version of the National Surveys on Energy and Environment (NSEE) finds 60% of Americans believe that there is solid evidence of increasing temperatures on Earth. These findings represent a moderate rebound from the three-year low...

IEEP

Public Support for Regulation of Power Plant Emissions Under the Clean Power Plan

January 15, 2015

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency launched a major new greenhouse gas reduction initiative in June 2014 through the release of its proposed Carbon Pollution Standards for Existing Power Plants. Better known as the Clean Power Plan (CPP), EPA...

Farming the Wind: The Impact of Wind Energy on Farming

January 1, 2015

Sarah Mills

In February 2014, owners of farmland in 14 townships in Michigan were sent a mail survey about their opinions of wind energy, recent investments in their homes and farms, and their future plans for their land. A total of 1,210 landowners—72% of all...

IEEP

Shale Governance in the European Union: Principles and Practice

October 1, 2014

The extraction of shale gas—mainly through the process of hydraulic fracturing or “fracking”—has become a central if contentious area of energy policy in the European Union (EU). Like their US counterparts, European policymakers are attracted by the...

IEEP

Opportunity, Risk, and Public Acceptability: The Question of Shale Gas Exploitation in Québec

October 1, 2014

The Canadian province of Québec has the largest reserves of shale gas in Eastern Canada, but Québeckers are in the midst of a heated debate over the desirability of exploiting this resource. At issue is the controversial technique of hydraulic...

IEEP

Public Opinion on Hydraulic Fracturing in the province of Quebec: A Comparison with Michigan and Pennsylvania

October 1, 2014

This report summarizes main findings of a comparative survey project, with a focus on explaining why attitudes toward fracking in Quebec are markedly different than in Pennsylvania and Michigan. The report is divided into three main parts. First the...

IEEP

Public Perceptions of Shale Gas Extraction and Hydraulic Fracturing in New York and Pennsylvania

September 1, 2014

Given the large economic, environmental, and social implications from the issue of shale gas and the process to extract it of hydraulic fracturing combined with horizontal drilling (or “fracking” as it is commonly known), it is not surprising that...

MPPS

Beyond the coast, a tenuous relationship between Michigan local governments and the Great Lakes

September 1, 2014

This report presents the opinions of Michigan’s local government leaders regarding the bonds – economic and otherwise – between their jurisdictions and the Great Lakes, their support or opposition to policies designed to protect the health of the...

MPPS

Wind power as a community issue in Michigan

July 1, 2014

This report presents the opinions of Michigan local government leaders on issues related to wind energy. It looks at the prevalence of wind turbines in jurisdictions across the state, opinions about the benefits and drawbacks of wind energy, sources...

IEEP

Public Views on a Carbon Tax Depend on the Proposed Use of Revenue

July 1, 2014

Conventional wisdom holds that a carbon tax is a political non-starter. However, results from the latest version of the National Surveys on Energy and Environment (NSEE) provide evidence of substantial public support for a tax on the carbon content...

MPPS

Fracking as a community issue in Michigan

June 1, 2014

This report presents the opinions of Michigan local government leaders on issues in their communities related to the process of extracting natural gas through high-volume hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling of underground shale deposits,...

IEEP

American Acceptance of Global Warming Retreats in Wake of Winter 2014

June 1, 2014

The winter of 2014 took its toll on many aspects of life in the United States. From individual level costs such as increased heating expenses and disrupted work schedules to broad economic effects including strained public works budgets and slower...

IEEP

Public Opinion on Climate Change and Support for Various Policy Instruments in Canada and the US

June 1, 2014

This report summarizes results from national-level surveys on public attitudes toward climate change administered in Canada and the US in Fall 2013. Since 2008, the National Surveys on Energy and Environment (formerly the National Surveys of...

IEEP

Environmental Policy in the Great Lakes Region: Current Issues and Public Opinion

April 2, 2014

This report reviews historical and current environmental problems in the Great Lakes and discusses attempts to address them through both joint (Canada-US) and unilateral policy. It then presents the results of a telephone survey of 1,247 residents...

IEEP

Wind Energy Development in the Great Lakes Region: Current Issues and Public Opinion

April 1, 2014

This report outlines the status of wind energy policy and development in the Great Lakes Region, and compares this to public opinion on wind energy within the context of existing literature. The vast majority of residents within the Basin would like...

IEEP

Shale Gas and Hydraulic Fracturing in the Great Lakes Region: Current Issues and Public Opinion

April 1, 2014

This report presents the views of people living within the Great Lakes Basin regarding hydraulic fracturing and shale gas drilling. Hydraulic fracturing, the injection of a fluid after drilling to crack open shale rock to release oil or gas, has...

IEEP

Using Information Disclosure to Achieve Policy Goals: How Experience with the Toxics Release Inventory Can Inform Action on Natural Gas Fracturing

March 1, 2014

In one of the most striking developments in recent years, the fracturing of shale deposits has transformed the U.S. energy economy by sharply increasing the supply of natural gas and lowering its cost. Shale fracturing, or fracking, also poses...

IEEP

The Decline of Public Support for State Climate Change Policies: 2008-2013

March 1, 2014

The first decade of the 2000s was a period of active and largely unanticipated state engagement in the development of policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This triggered substantial social science literature that explored the drivers behind...

IEEP

State of the Debate: Natural Gas Fracking in New York’s Marcellus Shale

January 1, 2014

Natural gas extraction through high-volume hydraulic fracturing, often used with horizontal drilling (“fracking”), increased by 24 percent from 2006 to 2011, and is projected to grow unabated. One of the most promising sources of natural gas is the...