Steve Caldwell’s Weblog

This is a paper written for a course on energy and climate taken during 2008 at Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business. It reviews the arguments for and against an energy efficiency “gap” or “paradox” with a focus on corporate energy efficiency.

Here is a recent presentation that I gave to NARUC’s summer conference on public opinion and climate change.

Here is a group project that I worked on for a GIS course wherein we conducted a suitability analysis for wind power both onshore and offshore for Massachusetts.

Here is a policy memo addressing Ecosystem Service Markets that I wrote recently for my Environmental Economics course.

Here is my recently completed master’s thesis (for a Master of Public Policy from Georgetown University).

Here is the title and abstract:

An Evaluation of the Impact of Demand-Side Management Expenditures on State-Level Electricity Efficiency

Abstract

Global climate change has become a topic of increasing importance to political leaders, policymakers, and the general public. Roughly one third of US greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions come from electricity generation. Improved energy efficiency in electricity end-uses offers the promise of reductions in GHG emissions and other benefits. Market failures have prompted federal and state governments to intervene to promote energy efficiency. One of the largest interventions has been in the form of demand-side management (DSM) programs run by electric utilities, state agencies, and third parties. Given policymakers’ considerations of further investments in energy efficiency through expanded DSM and other programs to help mitigate climate change, it is important to evaluate how effective DSM expenditures have been in improving energy efficiency.

Proponents of expanded energy efficiency programs point to a large “efficiency gap” between the current level of energy efficiency and the socially optimal level while citing market failures and barriers as justification for DSM and other programs to promote greater energy efficiency. Critics point out at least theoretical concerns about the efficacy of DSM. Previous empirical studies have come to divergent conclusions regarding the effectiveness of DSM while also revealing shortcomings in the evaluation methods applied to date. In particular, previous work highlights the need to take into account changes in energy efficiency from market transformation, positive spillover, and shifts in economic activity. This study analyzes a state-level panel data set to estimate the effect of DSM expenditures on state-level electricity efficiency controlling for relevant factors and employing a Fisher Ideal index measure of efficiency that distinguishes changes in electricity usage due to changes in electricity efficiency from those due to changes in economic activity. Regression results do not indicate that DSM expenditures improve efficiency; however, electricity price is found to have a strong impact on electricity efficiency.

I recently completed my master’s thesis on electricity demand-side management (DSM). Here is my annotated bibliography with sources related to energy efficiency and DSM.

Here is a research outline for a short paper for a Georgetown MBA class addressing the threats and opportunities posed by climate change to the property/casualty insurance industry.

In Fall 2007, I took Environmental Law at Georgetown. Here is my course outline.

Here are a couple of documents regarding carbon capture and storage.

First is a short paper describing CCS feasibility and challenges.

Second is a poster presenting a broad overview of CCS feasibility, costs, and challenges.

I discovered when making the poster that one cannot tile print from MS PowerPoint. However, one can tile print when using Impress from OpenOffice.org (which is free).

I recently spent some time putting the data from the NETL presentation Tracking New Coal-Fired Power Plants: Coal’s Resurgence in Electric Power Generation into a more convenient spreadsheet format. Since I couldn’t find this anywhere else on the web, I thought I’d post it for others to use.

Here is a letter to the editor of the Times taking issue with their characterization of cities as hotbeds of pollution.

This letter to the editor sent to the Washington Post did not make the cut, but I spent some time on it (and maybe this way someone somewhere will read it…):

In his April 12 column, “Fuzzy Climate Math,” George Will points out the sometimes deleterious–though unintended–consequences of consumers’ efforts to buy more environmentally friendly products, especially when it comes to global warming. Moreover, Mr. Will suggests that the US should not take action to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions because of the burgeoning emissions from the rapidly growing economies of India and China.

Mr. Will is correct to say that, in light of products’ complex and often inscrutable global supply chains, individual consumers cannot always make environmentally sound choices  on their own. This is why governments must use policy mechanisms, like a carbon tax or a cap-and-trade program, to address the threat of global warming. Once such a policy is in place, consumers can simply respond to market prices that reflect products’ true environmental costs.

While actions by Americans and Europeans alone will not avert the possibly severe consequences of global warming, developed nations must act first. For one, developed nations are responsible for the lion’s share of greenhouse gases currently in the atmosphere. Furthermore, nations like India and China will not act to limit the growth of their emissions without prior commitments by and assistance from the US and
Europe.

Here is a paper surveying the debate over the optimal allocation of state and federal responsibilities in environmental policy.

Here is an essay arguing for a stronger role for the federal government in providing health care to poor and near-poor Americans.

Here is a paper describing government policy toward wind power over time as well as changes in wind power technology and economics.

Here is a paper reviewing the views of Nixon, Reagan, and Clinton with respect to federalism and intergovernmental relations.

Here is a memo I wrote for my Energy Policy class at GPPI with recommendations for designing a carbon cap-and-trade system.

Here is a memo I wrote for a GPPI course on energy policy. The memo covers some of the basic economic issues w.r.t. energy taxes and subsidies.

This is a memo written for my course on Ethics, Values and Public Policy at GPPI. The memo endorses recent legislation to raise Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards.

I have lately become a big fan of this blog about environmental economics.

This is a memo on race-conscious Congressional districting that I recently wrote for a course on Ethics, Values, and Public Policy at GPPI.

This is a presentation I recently delivered for a course at GPPI on Ethics, Values and Public Policy.  The presentation advocates raising fuel economy standards in order to promote the values of security and equity while rebutting values-based arguments against CAFE standards.

This document contains the notes I took for the readings assigned in PPOL-580 Public Management at GPPI.  The course relied heavily on James Q. Wilson’s Bureaucracy, so I have notes on most chapters in the book.

This policy memo for PPOL-580 Public Management at GPPI examines the controversy about building a tunnel (rather than elevated tracks) underneath Tysons Corner for the proposed Dulles Corridor Metrorail extension project.

This essay for PPOL-517 Public Policy Process at GPPI argues for revisions to CAFE fuel economy standards.

This is the outline for my presentation in a debate over the regulation of internet gambling. The debate focused on the ethical and values issues at stake. The debate was for PPOL-560 Ethics, Values, and Public Policy at GPPI.

This paper that I wrote for PPOL-580 (Public Management) at GPPI applies James Q. Wilson’s ideas about bureaucratic constraints to the FBI and CIA in the pre-9/11 period.

Check it out, if you’re interested in Massachussets politics, in particular.

Here is a policy memo that I wrote for PPOL-560 Ethics, Values, and Public Policy at GPPI.  The memo recommends creating new High-Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes in Northern Virginia.

In 2006 I applied to and was accepted at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government (KSG).  I applied for the Master of Public Policy program.  I decided to enroll at Georgetown’s Public Policy Institute (GPPI) instead.

In case anyone is interested in reading a successful KSG applicant’s application essays, I have posted mine online.

Read the application essay questions.

Read my essays:

2, 3, 4, 5