Policy Topics

Energy and environment

Showing 301 - 330 of 837 results

News

Farmers harvesting the benefits of wind energy

Mar 5, 2020

With U.S. farm bankruptcy rates rising, farmers have been turning to the wind energy to make ends meet. Sarah Mills, senior project manager at the Ford School's Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP) was featured in a USA Today article...

In the Media

The Economics of Environmental Justice, with Samuel Stolper and Catherine Hausman

Mar 3, 2020 Resources

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Annual DC career trip fosters connections between students and alumni

Feb 11, 2020

On February 6 and 7, 2020, the Ford School held its annual DC career trip with record student attendance (55 graduate students) and alumni participation (140). A Ford School tradition, this year’s Washington, DC experience provided students with...

James VanSteel (MPP/MURP '21) co-authors electric vehicle report for The Ecology Center

Jan 31, 2020

With research conducted during his summer 2019 internship with The Ecology Center, Ford School student James VanSteel (MPP/MURP '21) co-authored “EV Report: Paying Their Fair Share,” published on January 13, 2020. In the report, VanSteel and his...

News

U-M survey finds sharp increase in energy efficiency steps among Michigan local governments

Jan 15, 2020

Half of Michigan’s local governments have taken steps to improve energy efficiency in their facilities—more than double the 22% who reported similar efforts a decade ago, according to a survey by the University of Michigan Ford School of Public...

New BA minor opens policy education to more U-M students

Dec 10, 2019

Starting fall 2020, the Ford School will offer University of Michigan undergraduates a 16-credit minor in public policy. The minor will have a competitive application process that will go live in April 2020. The school expects to enroll around...

Trump’s revocation of the Clean Air Act’s states’ rights waiver sends a ‘chilling message’, says Rabe

Oct 10, 2019

Last month, President Trump revoked California’s waiver under the 1970 Clean Air Act, stripping California and 13 other states of their authority to set state-level standards on tailpipe emissions. Contrary to typical Republican values favoring...

News

Barry Rabe contributes to New York Times reporting and analysis on greenhouse gas emissions policy

Oct 3, 2019

“If you look at the whole tweet thread, this is remarkably specific,” said Barry Rabe, professor of public policy at the Ford School, in The New York Times article “Trump Defends Plan to Kill California’s Auto-Emissions Authority”. “It almost moves...

Science, technology, and society… Oh my!

Oct 2, 2019

Professor Shobita Parthasarthy and a colleague have launched “The Received Wisdom”, a new podcast that will explore the potential of science and technology by challenging commonly held wisdom.On Monday, September 23, “The Received Wisdom” launched...

News

Democratic presidential candidates’ climate change proposals may be unrealistic, says Rabe

Sep 12, 2019

Addressing climate change tops the majority of democratic presidential candidates’ political agendas. The two main policies candidates propose are a full transition to electric vehicles as well as drastically reducing total greenhouse gas...

News

Rabe weighs in on term climate ‘crisis’

Jul 10, 2019

In the first democratic presidential debate, Sen. Kamala Harris declared “It’s the climate crisis,” to draw contrast to the softer terms often used to describe climate change. She, along with many other democrats, hope it will spark urgency. E&E...

Conan Smith named CEO of Michigan Environmental Council

May 31, 2019

Conan Smith, lecturer at the Ford School, has been named the next CEO of Michigan Environmental Council. Smith was also interviewed for Bridge about his new position for the May 28, 2019, piece “New Michigan Environmental Council chief has deep...

News

Sarah Mills work featured on This is Michigan

Apr 19, 2019

With bias and misinformation swirling around the consequences of wind turbine installation, local government officials are hard-pressed to find reliable information for themselves and their communities. Certainly there are tangible...

News

Barry Rabe and climate change: the opinions of the 2020 Democratic hopefuls

Apr 19, 2019

While the field of 2020 Democratic presidential candidates grows and the first primaries approach, one of the top issues for the field is climate change. Since his inauguration, President Trump has reversed Obama-era environmental policies, focused...

News

Daniel Raimi asks Barry Rabe: Can We Price Carbon?

Apr 19, 2019

In the April 16, 2019 edition of the Resource Radio podcast, Ford Lecturer Daniel Raimi interviewed his colleague Barry Rabe, Ford School professor and director of the Center for Local State and Urban Policy, about his book Can We Price Carbon?...

Raimi et al. publish analysis on pro-environmental spillover behaviors in Nature

Apr 12, 2019

Assistant Professor Kaitlin Raimi co-authored a recent study published in the journal Nature Sustainability on April 9, 2019. The article addresses the presence of behavior spillover, or the likelihood that one behavioral change will lead to...

News

Mills weighs in on UP wind energy project

Apr 8, 2019

In Michigan's Upper Peninsula a proposal to construct 49 wind turbines across 28,000 acres of the Huron Mountains is the subject of criticism from the local communities. To get perspective in her April 4, 2019 story on Interlochen Public Radio, Kaye...

News

For Democratic candidates, climate issues are a litmus test–but Rabe wonders for how long

Mar 21, 2019

With the 2020 presidential election cycle picking up pace, analysts are noticing thematic trends in candidate platforms. For Democratic hopefuls, one essential theme is having strong answers to climate issues. In Elvina Nawaguna’s March 19, 2019,...

News

Environmental implications of Hausman's latest paper garners media attention

Mar 11, 2019

Since publishing her latest paper in January, Professor Catherine Hausman’s analysis of the financial incentives, or lack thereof, to plug methane leaks for utility companies has received immense attention for the potential impact on environmental...

News

Utilities have little financial incentive to plug methane leaks

Mar 1, 2019

ANN ARBOR—Natural gas distribution firms lack incentives to reduce methane leaks, which contribute to climate change, a new University of Michigan study shows. Researchers say by plugging methane leaks, a company can save $5 per 1,000 cubic feet...

News

A changing climate: Congress moves on climate change, Barry Rabe questions how far

Feb 18, 2019

After the Trump administration’s 2017 decision to back out of the Paris Agreement, a UN effort to mitigate harmful effects of greenhouse-gas-emissions, some members of congress began forming a bipartisan coalition to adopt the goals on a...

News

Sarah Mills' key to the success of wind energy projects gets media attention

Feb 11, 2019

As the drive to develop renewable energy projects escalates, attention shifts towards harnessing wind energy as a reliable energy source. Despite the benefits wind energy provides—mainly jobs—advocates for wind energy must continue to combat...

New U-M carbon neutrality commission taps Barry Rabe

Feb 7, 2019

On February 4, 2019, University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel unveiled a new project aimed at tackling carbon neutrality. As detailed by Dana Elger in The University Record’s story titled “University launches Commission on Carbon Neutrality,”...

News

Ford Professor Catherine Hausman weighs in on luck and compensation for oil executives

Jan 29, 2019

ANN ARBOR—Compensation of U.S. oil and gas executives is closely tied to oil prices—much more closely than economic theory would predict, according to new University of Michigan research. The U-M study found that a 10-percent rise in oil prices...

News

Sarah Mills' latest article signals a crucial relationship between homeowner attitudes and the fate of wind energy projects in Michigan

Jan 25, 2019

In her latest journal article, published in Land Use Policy, Sarah Mills of the Ford School elaborates on public attitudes pertaining to wind energy development projects before and after the completion of the project. In “Exploring landowners’...

News

Barry Rabe and Sarah Mills of the Ford School part of team that receives 2019 Catalyst Grant

Jan 25, 2019

Barry Rabe and Sarah Mills of the Ford School constitute the policy arm of the new multidisciplinary project for advancing new sustainability-focused policies that promote renewable energy proposals. Along with Tony Reames of the School for...

A new Midwest climate initiative? Professor Barry Rabe discusses the potential promise and pitfalls

Jan 11, 2019

With Democratic governors taking office in the Midwest, there is the potential for a reinvigorated regional cap-and-trade agreement that aims to reduce carbon emissions and combat climate change. Like the 2007 Midwestern Greenhouse Gas Reduction...

PhD student shares view on COP24 in Nature

Dec 6, 2018

PhD student Michael Lerner was published in the December 5, 2018 issue of Nature. The commentary comes during this week’s 24th annual Conference of Parties (COP24) session at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Katowice, Poland. The...

Professor Barry Rabe explains the importance of Oregon's carbon cap bill

Nov 30, 2018

With the Democratic victories in Oregon’s legislative and gubernatorial elections, one may assume that the state’s proposed carbon cap bill will quickly pass in both chambers of the state legislature and become law as soon as Governor Kate Brown,...

Barry Rabe expects Midwest to refocus on climate issues

Nov 14, 2018

With a change of governorships after the midterm elections, one previously passed-over issue is seeing a resurgence. Governors-elect are already showing signs of making climate issues a top-priority in Midwestern states. Daniel Cusick, reporter for...