Reforming Subsidies in the US Energy Sector: Large Challenges Lay Ahead
Presentation to the OECD Workshop on Subsidy Reform and Sustainable Development, Helsinki, Finland. (June 2006).
Earth Track Document
Assessing the Return on Pretreatment: An Evaluation of EPA Performance Measurement and PCS Modernization
Prepared with Industrial Economics for the US EPA's Office of Water and the Office of Planning, Analysis, and Accountability. May 2002.
Improving the Biennial Report: Options and Challenges
April 2003. Prepared with Industrial Economics, Inc. for the US EPA's Office of Planning, Analysis, and Accountability and the Office of Solid Waste.
Obstacles to Subsidy Reform in the Energy Sector
Presentation (in Powerpoint) at the 2nd Annual OECD Technical Expert Meeting on Environmentally Harmful Subsidies, Paris, 3-4 November 2003. Provides and overview of the political dynamics of subsidies and the structural challenges to reforming them.
Using Economic Instruments in Environmental Policy Making: Opportunities, Prospects, and Challenges
Prepared for the United Nations Environment Programme under the auspices of the Economics and Trade Branch's Working Group on Economic Instruments. 2004.
Subsidies to Energy Industries
General
introduction to the measurement and concepts associated with government
subsidization of energy industries. Includes a review of a generic fuel
cycle which identifies the most common types of subsidies at each stage
and which energy types they tend to support within a global context.
Also provides an overview of the challenges of successfully
implementing subsidy reform. Much more on the Encyclopedia of Energy is available from the publisher.
Federal Subsidies to Energy in 2003 - A First Look
Program line review of federal fiscal subsidies to energy for fiscal year 2003, to support the work of the National Commission on Energy Policy. Aggregate subsidies were worth between $37 and $64 billion to the energy sector. Analysis includes main tax expenditure and programmatic subsidies. Time frame of analysis was insufficient to include credit subsidies to energy (via export banks, Rural Utility Service, and Power Marketing Administrations; recently-passed legislation containing energy tax breaks; or energy-related externalities. Thus, real value of federal support would be even hi
Improving the Effectiveness of Tsunami Relief Efforts: A Concept Paper
This paper proposes two changes that I believe will make Tsunami relief efforts more effective. The first moves the detailed logistics system of the UN relief coordinator into the public domain. The objective of this change is to establish increased ability for outside groups to provide technology and data; to ensure more rapid access to updated information for all working in the region; and for increasing donor confidence in how the relief effort is being run.
Subsidies in the US Energy Sector: Magnitude, Causes, and Options for Reform
Examines the political drivers behind subsidy proliferation in the US federal system and a variety of options to improve transparency and contestability of the subsidy programs. Paper contains ballpark values for US federal subsidies by energy type, based on an update of US energy subsidy estimates for 2003 prepared for the National Commission on Energy Policy. Chapter published in Subsidy Reform and Sustainable Development: Political Economy Aspects, (OECD: Paris, France, 2007).
Biofuels - At What Cost? Government Support for Ethanol and Biodiesel in the United States
Detailed review of state and federal subsidies, prepared for the Global Subsidies Initiative. Subsidy costs per unit fossil fuel or GHG displaced exceed $500 per mt of CO2-equivalent. Policy structures are duplicative and generally linked to production rather than to the carbon displacement profile of particular producers. Faster and more efficient ways to achieve the goals of energy security and greenhouse gas mitigation should be pursued. (October 2006).