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1 week ago | 
energyathaas.wordpress.com | Meredith Fowlie |Meredith Fowlie All
Pain at the pump could spell trouble for California carbon pricing. President Trump’s first 100 days in office have delivered many things—including a record-breaking number of executive orders. Order 14260 takes aim at state-led climate policies. It doesn’t directly challenge or invalidate any laws, but it does call out California for trying “to dictate national energy policy” through its cap-and-trade program.
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2 months ago | 
energyathaas.wordpress.com | Meredith Fowlie |Meredith Fowlie All
What will this mean for U.S. consumers and the climate? The first weeks of a new administration are always a whirlwind. Bold executive orders and big headlines are standard moves for a new President looking to signal new authority and new direction. Trump 2.0 has taken this playbook and turned it up to eleven. Amidst a confusing mix of bluster, brazen executive actions, and big shifts in policy priorities, it’s been hard to know what to focus on and how to react.
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Jan 14, 2025 | 
brookings.edu | Meredith Fowlie |Judson Boomhower |Daniel C Richter |Riki Fujii-Rajani
IntroductionHomeowners’ insurance markets are facing some significant challenges. Across the country, average homeowners insurance premiums have increased by more than 30% between 2020 and 2023 (13% adjusted for inflation). Some insurance companies have stopped writing policies in some areas.
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Jan 13, 2025 | 
energyathaas.wordpress.com | Meredith Fowlie |Meredith Fowlie All
Affordability isn’t the enemy of cap-and-trade—It’s the goal. California lawmakers are back to work in Sacramento. Heading into the new legislative session, cost of living concerns loom large. Both Democrats and Republicans are pledging to make “affordability” their top priority. Republicans, taking aim at California climate policy, have already introduced a measure to eliminate the low-carbon fuel standard. Their message seems clear.
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Oct 21, 2024 | 
evdriven.com | Meredith Fowlie |Meredith Fowlie All
What just happened to your carbon tax? This week’s blog post is co-authored with Patrick Baylis. British Columbians headed to the polls on Saturday for a pivotal provincial election. As of today, the results are still too close to call. The left-leaning NDP incumbents are locked in a dead heat with their right-wing challengers, the newly emboldened Conservative Party. British Columbia’s flagship carbon tax may not survive this political showdown.
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Aug 26, 2024 | 
energyathaas.wordpress.com | Meredith Fowlie |Meredith Fowlie All
How much of California’s power grid belongs underground? This week’s blog post is co-authored with Duncan Callaway and Cody Warner. California wildfire season is off to a roaring start. In 2024, we have seen 5,435 wildfires, 830,461 acres burned, 1,220 structures destroyed, one life lost, and it’s only August. There’s no question that wildfire activity is getting more intense. This is partly due to climate change and partly due to a history of aggressive wildfire suppression.
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Aug 5, 2024 | 
energyathaas.wordpress.com | Meredith Fowlie
Rising EV sales and aging underground infrastructure raise existential questions for my local gas stations. Electric vehicle sales are on the rise in California. Last year, zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) claimed over 25% of California’s new car market (EVs got over 21%). If all goes according to plan, 100% of new passenger cars, trucks, and SUVs sold in California will be ZEVs by 2035. There are signs that these increasing ZEV sales are starting to reduce gasoline demand.
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Jun 28, 2024 | 
nber.org | Judson Boomhower |Meredith Fowlie |Jacob Gellman |Andrew J. Plantinga
Skip to main content We thank seminar participants at the NBER Summer Institute, NBER Insurance Working Group, the 2023 ASSA meetings, the 2024 AERE Summer Conference, TWEEDS, University of Chicago, Harvard University, MIT, Indiana University, Resources for the Future, the New York Federal Reserve, the San Francisco Federal Reserve, Stanford University, University of Alaska Anchorage, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara, University of Southern California, University of Wisconsin,...
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Jun 10, 2024 | 
energyathaas.wordpress.com | Meredith Fowlie
Can carbon offsets defuse our refrigerant problem? 2024 has been unbearably hot … and it’s only June. Temperature records are being broken around the world. Air conditioning sales are booming. Air conditioners and other cooling technologies are helping people adapt to rising temperatures. They’re also accelerating climate change. We’ve blogged about this double-edged sword before, focusing on the cooling-induced increases in electricity demand.
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Apr 1, 2024 | 
energyathaas.wordpress.com | Meredith Fowlie
California is tightening its GHG belt – who should feel the pinch? California has set some ambitious GHG reduction goals. Now the state is trying to figure out how to meet them. The costs of unmitigated climate change could be devastating, so we should be looking for ways to drive deeper reductions in GHG emissions. Mitigating climate change won’t be cheap, so we should be chasing down the most cost-effective strategies.
