Policy Topics

Energy and environment

Showing 271 - 300 of 838 results

News

As part of NAPA working group, Rabe proposed climate action plan for the 2021 Administration

Nov 2, 2020

As part of a nine-member National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) Working Group, Barry Rabe recommended near-time actions to address climate change to the next Administration. The group’s Steward Natural Resources and Address Climate Change...

In the Media

Rabe runs election scenarios and impact on climate action

Oct 30, 2020 EnviroLink

If Trump wins: “In a second Trump administration, we are likely to see executive action that is even bolder, even more aggressive, and probably doing everything imaginable to pump up oil and gas production as a strategy for economic recovery,” said...

News

Michigan Votes - Ford School faculty experts available

Oct 29, 2020

Contact: Daniel Rivkin, [email protected], +1-917-817-6323 Michigan Votes! ANN ARBOR — Experts at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan are available to discuss the election process and results in Michigan...

Side by side photos of Donald Trump and Joe Biden

In the Media

Significance of natural gas industry on Pennsylvania voters an interesting test, says Rabe

Oct 26, 2020 Environment & Energy News

Rabe tole E&E News it remains an open question how much the gas fight will influence Pennsylvania voters. "If you have a large state with a diversified economy, how significant is something like the fossil fuel industry? This is an interesting...

In the Media

Legislative vacuum creates a prominent role for courts in climate policy, says Rabe

Oct 23, 2020 E & E

"We've had every combination of partisan control you can have: all Democrat, all Republican ... the outcome is no new environmental legislation of major consequence," Rabe said. "That creates a vacuum." The legislative void is not the only reason...

In the Media

Rabe suggests carbon tax less vulnerable to court challenge than other climate initiatives

Oct 22, 2020 Inside EPA/Climate

“We are going to have to be thinking of any bill, can it pass constitutional muster,” Rabe said during an October 15 Brookings Institution event. According to the Inside EPA/Climate article, he suggested tax policies are relatively impervious to...

In the Media

Rabe: Trump re-election would further marginalize EPA staff

Oct 21, 2020 Inside EPA

It would be an “opportunity [for the Trump administration] to consolidate and finalize” deregulatory rules and interpretations now pending at EPA or in the courts, said Barry Rabe during an Oct. 15 Brookings Institution webinar on the election’s...

In the Media

A Biden victory still means confronting steep climate policy challenges, says Rabe

Oct 16, 2020 Environment & Energy News

"The administrative route, in my view, is loaded with challenges," Rabe said during a Brookings Institution sponsored panel. The article notes that Biden's other option — trying to get Congress to enact climate legislation — also would be...

In the Media

Rabe on Biden's appeal to Michigan farmers

Oct 12, 2020 Business Insider

“Climate is a really hard thing to explain, especially when you’re talking about localised impacts," said Rabe. "It’s one thing to talk about wildfires or hurricanes, but hitting plants and agriculture is really significant.” Read the full...

News

U-M survey: More than half of Michigan's local governments have developed energy plans

Oct 7, 2020 Michigan News

More than half of local government officials in Michigan see improving energy efficiency for local businesses or residents as relevant to their jurisdiction's government, according to a survey by the Ford School's Center for Local, State, and Urban...

In the Media

Rabe on the transition away from coal

Oct 2, 2020 Chicago Tribune

“I’m hard-pressed to think of any state or analyst upbeat about the future of coal,” said Rabe. “Increasingly, the discussion is about how we can navigate a just, humane transition.” Read the full Chicago Tribune article...

In the Media

Rabe: Tackling climate change may require new legislation given US courts, limits to Clean Air Act

Oct 2, 2020 Environment & Energy News

"Legislation can breathe and adjust and be reinterpreted, but at some point, you probably have to go back to the legislative drawing board," said Ford School professor Barry Rabe, "especially if you're thinking of taking on a massive issue like...

Publication

Rabe examines Trump’s “Administrative Presidency” in a new book

Oct 1, 2020

The administration of Donald Trump has used executive orders and regulatory changes in a far-reaching expansion of presidential power to reverse many policies of the Obama administration. In a new book published by the Brookings Institution Press,...

News

U-M survey finds strong interest among Michigan communities in sustainability and energy collaborations

Sep 30, 2020

Few local governments in Michigan report collaborating with another community on energy and sustainability issues, but nearly half expressed interest in teaming up with others to pursue opportunities, according to survey results released today by...

In the Media

Rabe: A conservative Supreme Court could diminish unilateral executive action on environmental policy

Sep 28, 2020

"Even if former Vice President Joe Biden wins the White House," said Rabe, "the high court’s new makeup would set up a questionable future for aggressive Biden administration environmental policies. I think it likely dials back ambition for any...

In the Media

Rabe discusses how Democratic governors tackle climate policy

Sep 24, 2020 Environment & Energy News

“We’re in a window where a lot of Democratic governors are trying to do something related to climate, and if the executive order approach is their only route, carbon neutrality is a kind of popular step,” said Rabe. Read the full E&E News...

In the Media

Rabe: Linking climate to infrastructure and job creation requires a plan

Sep 23, 2020 Roll Call

“On one hand, in terms of initial public perception, [linking climate change to infrastructure] can be attractive because you’re allowing each citizen to paint with their imagination what it will be like,” Rabe said. But the challenge, he added,...

In the Media

Rabe says climate concerns matter in 2020 vote

Sep 22, 2020 Environment & Energy News

"In ways that we haven't seen before, the climate and environment issues never really go away. It keeps resurfacing in ways that are relatively unique to the last 20 years or so," Rabe told E&E News. Read the full Environment & Energy News...

Publication

Government science boards are seen through a political lens - study

Sep 9, 2020

The current debate about federally-funded scientific research reflects an ongoing trend: What people think of the scientists who advise the federal government partially depends on their own political persuasion and where the scientists work. That is...

Alumni spotlight

Laura Bishop (MPA ‘99) ‘leans in’ on environmental sustainability in the public and private sectors

Aug 17, 2020

Laura Bishop (MPA '99) recently came full circle moving between the public and private sectors, and back to state government. Her time at the Ford School gave her the foundation in public administration, analytics and economics, as well as the...

Alumni spotlight

Kenneth McFarlane (MPA ‘14) pivoted from highest profit to greatest outcome

Aug 10, 2020

Kenneth McFarlane’s (MPA '14) transition from a civil engineer to Chief Deputy Director in the Michigan Department of Agriculture & Rural Development was guided by the Ford School. McFarlane landed a civil engineer’s dream job in Las Vegas,...

News

Rabe: Green Super PACs can have real influence in 2020 elections

Jul 30, 2020

In an article in E&E News, Ford School professor Barry Rabe is quoted as saying that the League of Conservation Voters (LCV), among other environmental organizations, can have a real impact on the elections in 2020. The article states, “The LCV...

News

Rabe lauds the Great American Outdoors Act

Jul 20, 2020

Ford School professor of Environmental Policy Barry Rabe writes in an essay for the Niskanen Center July 16 that” the recent Senate passage of the Great American Outdoors Act–buoyed with overwhelming bipartisan support–is a remarkable achievement in...

Alumni spotlight

Interdisciplinary studies and applied learning prepare Fernandes (MPP/MS ‘08) to protect environment

Jul 8, 2020

As a policy analyst for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Nicole Fernandes (MPP/MS '08) analyzes the environmental, political, and programmatic impacts of proposed coastal resilience and science policies, including those...

News

Future presidential climate change actions are limited, Rabe argues

Jun 25, 2020

In a FixGov blog for the Brookings Institution, Ford School professor Barry Rabe argues that environmental policy has been shaped for too long by executive order and administrative powers rather than more enduring legislation. "So should the 46th...

Domestic Policy Corps, Policy for the People, Environmental Policy Association stand in solidarity with Black lives

Jun 10, 2020

Domestic Policy Corps, Policy for the People, and the Environmental Policy Association, three Ford School student organizations, have released statements of solidarity with the Black community and the movements for Black lives. We share them,...

Black background with white text: "Student organization statements: Domestic Policy Corps, Policy for the People, and Environmental Policy Assoc. in solidarity with Black lives."

News

Plugging orphaned oil and gas wells can protect the environment, create jobs

Jun 2, 2020

At a forum convened by the House Natural Resources Committee Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources on June 1, Daniel Raimi, Ford School lecturer, testified that capping “orphaned” oil and gas well – those which are no longer productive and...

Alumni spotlight

Ford School alum supports small businesses and sustainable energy in East Africa during COVID-19

May 28, 2020

Because it is easy to transport and produce, wood charcoal is an important cooking fuel in developing countries, particularly in urban areas. Unfortunately, traditional wood charcoal, is often unsustainably produced and consumed, putting severe...

Sylvia Herzog, The Charcoal Project, with Betty Ikalany and Helen Acuru, AEST Ltd. Uganda

News

Biden risks alienating voters with climate policies, according to Rabe

May 15, 2020

Ford School professor Barry Rabe was quoted in an article in the Washington Examiner on May 14 about the risks of Vice President Joe Biden's campaign veering too far left in its climate policy. “At some point, there will be disappointment,” said...

News

Rabe explores taxing methane emissions

Mar 16, 2020

Representing a new line of research, Ford School professor Barry Rabe explores the politics around taxing methane gas releases. Rabe argues that consensus among economists is “the best way to reduce climate risks linked to carbon dioxide emissions...