scholarly journals Addressing Energy Equity in the United States: Policy Considerations for Federal Investment

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Greg Carlock ◽  
Jillian Neuberger ◽  
Lesly Calle ◽  
Evana Said
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Energy Transition ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
Energy System ◽  
The United States ◽  
Equity Issues ◽  
United States Policy

This issue brief discusses existing energy injustice in the United States, related to longstanding and intersectional discrimination based on race, income, gender, and location, and how federal investment in the clean energy transition can address energy equity issues. The brief considers how targeted investment and other spending and policy considerations can direct and retain benefits of clean energy for households and communities that, historically and currently, have not benefited equitably from the energy system.

scholarly journals Exploring Residential Rooftop Solar Potential in the United States by Race and Ethnicity

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tony G. Reames
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Ethnic Disparities ◽  
Energy Transition ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Single Family ◽  
Census Tracts ◽  
Communities Of Color ◽  
Racial Ethnic ◽  
Rooftop Solar

Over the last decade, the United States has experienced continued growth in residential rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) adoption. However, solar adoption disparities have been shown across household income, homeownership status, and more recently racial and ethnic demographics. A key component to ensuring a just clean energy transition is understanding the existing landscape to establish realistic goals. Motivated by studies on solar adoption disparities, this descriptive study aims to evaluate the distribution of estimated single-family rooftop potential across racial and ethnic majority census tracts to discern whether rooftop potential disparities may justify solar adoption disparities. Across all census tracts, the median rooftop potential was 80%. Three-fourths of all census tracts had a rooftop potential >72%, regardless of racial/ethnic majority. Compared to majority-white census tracts, majority-Black, majority-Hispanic, and majority-Asian census tracts had slightly lower rooftop potential, 6, 7, and 9%, respectively, while majority-American Indian census tracts had an 11% higher rooftop potential. The slightly lower rooftop potential in communities of color compared to majority-white and non-racial/ethnic majority census tracts, alone, was not of the magnitude to justify documented racial/ethnic disparities in solar adoption. This study concludes, that while a majority of homes in communities of color are solar suitable, an equitable clean energy transition is only possible with policies, programs, and incentives that center on racial equity while recognizing the interplay between race, income, and homeownership status.

scholarly journals The Power of Customer Choice in Energy: A California Case Study in Accelerating Clean Energy Transitions

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (02) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly Trumbull ◽  
J.R. DeShazo
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Free Energy ◽  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Energy Transition ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
The United States ◽  
The State ◽  
Market Demand

Despite a lack of action at the national level, the transition to carbon-free energy is becoming a reality across the United States. At the local level, community choice aggregators (CCAs)—which offer communities public control over their electricity purchasing decisions—are accelerating this transition. By forming these electricity providers, member cities and counties can choose how much renewable energy is offered to their residents and businesses. In California, CCAs have become an effective policy tool at accelerating the transition to clean energy. Across the state, 182 cities and counties have become members of one of the 23 CCAs, with additional communities planning to join or form CCAs in the next few years. These CCAs have been effective at unlocking market demand largely stifled by an investor-owned utility monopoly by giving cities and counties greater choice and access to renewable energy. The vast majority of these CCAs procure more renewable energy than the investor-owned utilities they compete with. As a result, CCAs purchased 204% of the renewable energy required by the state from 2011 to 2019. By achieving California’s carbon-free energy targets more quickly than mandated, the state benefits from a cumulatively larger reduction in greenhouse gas emissions each year. The success of CCAs in California demonstrates the power of promoting carbon-free energy at the grassroots, enabled by public, local choice in electricity supply. With six states considering CCA-enabling legislation, and with hundreds of cities and counties across the United States working toward a 100% carbon-free energy goal, policies like California Assembly Bill 117 (2002) that enabled CCAs can provide a valuable tool to accelerate the transition to carbon-free energy. The purpose of this paper is to assess how CCA-enabling policy can support the clean energy transition using California as a case study. We assess three conditions that affect a CCA’s ability to accelerate the clean energy transition: CCA customer characteristics, CCA design features, and their policy and regulatory context. We conclude with a discussion of policy recommendations important to ensure CCAs can continue to support clean energy goals.

Orientalized Aztecs: Observations on the Americanization of Theatrical Dance

2019 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 35-50
Author(s):  
K. Mitchell Snow
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Manifest Destiny ◽  
The United States ◽  
United States Policy ◽  
Ballets Russes

The opening decades of the twentieth century saw a passing fashion for “Aztec” dancing in the vaudeville theaters of the United States. Russian classical dancers Kosloff and Fokine tapped the orientalist currents of the Ballets Russes, adopting the Aztec as superficial signs of the American. Conversely, works by Shawn and film director Cecil B. DeMille, which served as points of reference for the Russians, represented a continuation of equally orientalist attitudes toward Mexico's past, forged during the realization of the United States’ policy of Manifest Destiny. The emergence of a cadre of trained dancers from Mexico, trained by students of Kosloff and Shawn, would bring a distinctively different perspective on the presentation of their heritage to the dance stage, one that was no longer based in the imagination of an expansionist America.

Development Channelization, Partisanship, and Populism: Possibilities for Rural Renewal in the Death Throes of Coal

2021 ◽  
pp. 073112142110246
Author(s):  
Adam Mayer
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Political Ideology ◽  
Energy System ◽  
The United States ◽  
Coal Industry ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
Partisan Polarization ◽  
Rural Economies ◽  
Right Wing Populism

In the last few decades, the United States has experienced several related and significant societal trends—the transition of the energy system away from coal, the intensification of partisan polarization, and the rise of a populist right-wing political ideology, perhaps best exemplified by the election of Donald Trump. We build Gramling and Freudenberg’s little-explored concept of “development channelization” to argue that nostalgic right-wing populism, grievances directed toward the federal government, and partisanship converge to potentially thwart efforts to transition and diversify rural economies. Populist nostalgia and blame are associated with support for expanding the collapsing coal industry but do not predict support for other types of development. There are patterns of partisan polarization in support for extractive industries and wind power, but many development options appear to be relatively nonpartisan. We discuss these findings in terms of populism, nostalgia, partisan polarization, and the potential for rural renewal in the United States.

scholarly journals Renewable Energy Federalism in Germany and the United States

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Johannes Saurer ◽  
Jonas Monast
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Federal Government ◽  
Energy Transition ◽  
The United States ◽  
Federal Republic Of Germany ◽  
The Us ◽  
Legal Structures ◽  
Cooperative Federalism ◽  
Energy Expansion

Abstract The Federal Republic of Germany and the United States (US) have adopted different models for energy federalism. Germany allocates more authority to the federal government and the US relies on a decentralized cooperative federalism model that preserves key roles for state actors. This article explores and compares the relevance of federal legal structures for renewable energy expansion in both countries. It sets out the constitutional, statutory, and factual foundations in both Germany and the US, and explores the legal and empirical dimensions of renewable energy expansion at the federal and state levels. The article concludes by drawing several comparative lessons about the significance of federal structures for energy transition processes.

scholarly journals Clean Energy in City Codes: A Baseline Analysis of Municipal Codification across the United States

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey J. Cook ◽  
Alexandra Aznar ◽  
Alexander Dane ◽  
Megan Day ◽  
Sivani Mathur ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
The United States

scholarly journals Governance and decentralized energy transitions: a comparative case study of three medium-sized cities in Sweden, Canada, and the United States.

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-106
Author(s):  
Martin Boucher
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Energy System ◽  
The United States ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Energy Transitions ◽  
Contextual Understanding ◽  
Energy Projects ◽  
Decentralized Energy ◽  
The Impact

 Aim: This study examines the impact of governance on decentralized energy transitions. Knowledge of how particular jurisdictions and their governance arrangements influence these transitions can help strengthen and contextualize divergent trajectories of decentralized energy transitions and—most importantly—reveal the role of geographical context in policy change. Design: This research gap is addressed in this paper by comparing the uptake of decentralized energy transitions in three cities in three different countries—Luleå (Sweden), Saskatoon (Canada), and Anchorage (United States). The jurisdictions in each city has unique governance contexts pertaining to electric utilities, regulations, public policy, and public acceptance.  By comparing these transitions, this study highlights the governance considerations for decentralized energy transitions and asks how does governance impact decentralized energy transitions in cities? To answer this question, actors within various public, private, and sectoral capacities were interviewed to provide their insights on decentralized energy transitions in each jurisdiction. Conclusion: I present five governance dimensions that impact decentralized energy transitions and explain how these factors can be included to provide a more contextual understanding of patterns of decentralized energy transitions in cities.  Originality: Much of the literature on decentralized energy and cities has focused on project and sectoral level analysis and hasn’t considered the holistic nature of the energy system transition. A particular gap that would help inform a broader understanding is the jurisdictional governance impacts of decentralization energy transitions. Implications of the Research: In practical terms, the results could be used to inform inter-jurisdictional comparisons of decentralization energy projects. Limitations of the Research: Given that there were three case studies, it is not possible to make generalizable claims from the results.  

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