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Building Change towards Full Cost Water: Lessons from the Rate Setting Process
April 2012 - by David Gordon, Bill Holman
To ensure the country's changing water demands and evolving environmental challenges are met, the water industry must find new strategies and partners to map a new way forward. A new paper by the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions highlights the importance of rate setting strategy. By analyzing disparate rate cases, the authors show that common strategies can exist with regard to rate setting procedures no matter how different the utility.
Regulating Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Existing Sources: Section 111(d) and State Equivalency
March 2012
On December 9, 2011, the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions convened a broad range of stakeholders to explore the legal and policy issues presented by the regulation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions under 111(d) (existing source performance standards) of the Clean Air Act. The workshop focused primarily on the options for states to demonstrate that existing GHG policies are equivalent to the 111(d) requirements. The Nicholas Institute distributed this document to workshop participants prior to the event to provide a framework for the issues that would be discussed. Nothing in this document should be interpreted as expressing the Institute’s opinion of the path the EPA should take on any given issue.
Profiling Local Climate Change Governance in the Southeastern United States
December 2011 - by Amy Morsch
While other regions have taken a more proactive approach, state and federal government officials and privately owned utilities have largely dismissed the idea of climate and energy policies in the southeastern United States. In this environment, many cities have developed climate and sustainability programs independent of state action. In the summer of 2011, the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions surveyed Southeastern cities with populations greater than 100,000 on their sustainability, climate, and energy policies and practices. This report presents the results of that survey, which reflect how local governments in the region are articulating goals, exercising influence and authority, and planning and implementing policy. The research revisits many of the topics analyzed in a similar 2010 Nicholas Institute report, and it provides a glimpse at the direction of local governments in the Southeast.
Myths and Facts About Electricity in the U.S. South
December 2011
This paper identifies six myths about clean electricity in the southern United States. These myths are either propagated by the public at-large, shared within the environmental advocacy culture, or spread imperceptibly between policy makers. Using a widely accepted energy-economic modeling tool, the paper exposes these myths as half-truths and the kind of conventional wisdom that constrains productive debate. In doing so, it identifies new starting points for energy policy development.
Considering Shale Gas Extraction in North Carolina: Lessons from Other States
November 2011 - by Sarah Plikunas, Brooks Rainey Pearson, Jonas Monast, Avner Vengosh and Rob Jackson
Because North Carolina has no active oil and gas production and no existing regulatory framework for this industry, it has a unique opportunity to build a program from the ground up. This paper looks at the environmental and health concerns surrounding hydraulic fracturing to extract natural gas trapped below the ground, and shares regulatory approaches other states are taking to reduce these risks. Further, it focuses on several measures North Carolina lawmakers should understand when considering whether, and under what conditions, to allow shale gas extraction in the state.
Myths and Facts About Electricity in the U.S. South
September 2011 - by Marilyn A. Brown, Etan Gumerman, Xiaojing Sun, Gyungwon Kim, Kenneth Sercy
This paper identifies six myths about clean electricity in the southern United States. These myths are either propagated by the public at-large, shared within the environmental advocacy culture, or spread imperceptibly between policy makers. Using a widely accepted energy-economic modeling tool, the paper exposes these myths as half-truths and the kind of conventional wisdom that constrains productive debate. In doing so, it identifies new starting points for energy policy development.
Climate Ready Estuaries: A Blueprint for Change
March 2011 - by Bill Holman and Amy Pickle
Initially conceived as an outreach pilot to increase public and local government awareness in five counties of the Albemarle-Pamlico region, our Blueprint summarizes the initial outreach efforts, includes findings and recommendations for increasing the region’s climate resilience, compiles a resource of up-to-date science on sea-level rise impacts, and serves as a first step in educating the public and decision makers about the opportunities and challenges of becoming a climate ready estuary.
The Near-Term Market and Greenhouse Gas Implications of Forest Biomass Utilization in the Southeastern United States
August 2010 - by Robert C. Abt, Christopher S. Galik, and Jesse D. Henderson
Additional Strategies to Reduce Phosphorus in the Falls Lake Watershed
August 2010 - by Claire Williamson
Phosphorus is an important element for plant growth but is a pollutant when there is too much in water. North Carolina, similar to most states, is working to reduce the amount of phosphorus pollution in its waters. One strategy to reduce phosphorus used by a few other states and communities is to regulate phosphorus in turf fertilizers and automatic dish detergents. The states choose to reduce phosphorus in turf fertilizers and dish detergent because phosphorus is unnecessarily used these two products and can be reduced.
State of the Southeast: How Cities are Addressing Climate Change
July 2010 - by Amy Morsch
The Southeast faces unique challenges in attempts to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and prepare for the impacts of climate change. It is one of the fastest-growing regions of the United States. The region also enjoys cheap energy relative to other regions in the U.S., which likely factors into its disproportionate energy use. In addition, a number of recent reports have detailed the ways climate will change in the Southeast, revealing significant vulnerabilities and risks. But the region’s leadership at the state and federal level has often voiced opposition to climate action. These contradictions make local efforts to mitigate emissions and prepare for climate change both difficult and imperative.
Climate Ready Estuaries Preliminary Lessons Learned; Informing Communication Strategies and Recommendations
July 2010 - by Amy Pickle, Katherine McGlade, Joanna Field and Bill Holman
Perceptions of Water Scarcity in the Triangle
May 2010 - by Jennifer Fitts, Kevin Fritze, Shuai Shao, Angela Vasconcellos, Elise Vergnano and Emily Vuxton
Public Participation in Watershed Management: An Evaluation of the Falls Lake Stakeholder Project
May 2010 - by Brooke C. Gray and Dr. Lynn Maguire, Advisor
Public participation has become an increasingly important component of effective watershed management over the last twenty years. Conducted by the North Carolina Division of Water Quality, the Falls Lake Stakeholder Project is a collaborative stakeholder process that includes interested parties in drafting a federally mandated Nutrient Management Strategy. The Falls Lake Stakeholder Project worked to improve the stakeholder process by responding to issues recognized in a prior North Carolina Division of Water Quality project, the Jordan Lake Stakeholder Project.
How Can Local Governments in NC Change Stormwater Management Policy to Encourage Downtown Redevelopment and Improve Environmental Outcomes?
April 2010 - by Aroha Bahuguna, Matthew Jentgen, Molly Ward and Gray Wilson
Energy Efficiency in the South
April 2010 - by Marilyn A. Brown, Etan Gumerman, Xiaojing Sun, Youngsun Baek, Joy Wang, Rodrigo Cortes, and Diran Soumonni
Energy Efficiency in the South is a recent report by a team of researchers at the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions and Georgia Institute of Technology and that uses state-of-the-art economic modeling to evaluate the potential impact of energy efficiency policies on Southern states. The energy efficiency policies examined by the research team fall into three broad categories: residential, commercial, and industrial. The report also includes state profiles for each state in the region (including the District of Columbia) and the economic and employment impacts of energy efficiency for each individual state.
Climate Change and Financial Markets: Regulating the Trade Side of Cap and Trade
January 2010 - by Jonas Monast
Regional Collaboration on Water Quality & Quantity
December 2009 - by Bill Holman
Memo to Triangle Area Mayors and County Chairs
Drawing the Line in Sand or in Cement: Preparing North Carolina’s Estuaries for Climate Change and Population Growth
November 2009 - by Katherine McGlade, Raphael Sagarin and Sheril Kirshenbaum
Valuing ecosystem services from wetlands restoration in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley
November 2009
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