As part of its effort to create dialogue with the American people on environmental issues, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently launched a project in conjunction with SMITH Magazine, Six Words for the Planet.
The project, officially housed at this site, invites all citizens of the world to submit a six-word essay describing their feelings about Earth.
“Healthier families, cleaner communities, stronger America,” writes EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson in her own offering. Other submissions from within EPA include the existential (“Many Nations. One Planet. Our Home.”) and haikuesque admonishment (“Breathe; A Moment in Nature. Breathe!”)
Catalyzing conversation about environmental topics is certainly not out of bounds like a lot of other things the agency has been doing–and caught doing. But most people have concerns that go beyond the (improving) environment.…
Continue ReadingThe Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) and the Institute for Humane Studies (IHS) were crucial in my intellectual development. Back in the 1970s, when I attended my first FEE and IHS seminars, there were few such gatherings on the political economy of liberty. For some of us students, the timing was just about right for receiving during the summer what we missing at our colleges and universities.
So it was with interest that I read about Cato University 2012. The July 29–August 3 seminar is a great opportunity for students of liberty. The redone, spacious Cato Institute at 1000 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, will be the venue for the first time in many years.
“In a time of political turbulence, a presidential election, ideological posturing, and so much more,” the announcement reads, “our nation’s capital is the perfect setting for examining the roots of our commitment to liberty and limited government and for exploring the ideas and values on which the American republic was founded.”…
Continue Reading“Regulators who don’t approve smart stuff are by elimination reducing themselves to certificators of dumb stuff. When nuclear optimism peaked, backers said that its power would be “too cheap to meter.” The bill for the smart grid is turning out to be too confusing to meter, but like in the nuclear heyday, the momentum is irresistible.”
I have some kind words for the California Public Utilities Commission’s Division of Ratepayer Advocates (DRA), its in-house department charged with representing small consumers in rate proceedings.
DRA has long been agnostic about the benefits of smart meters. But with the release of “Case Study of Smart Meter System Deployment: Recommendations for Ensuring Ratepayer Benefits,” the issue of high costs relative to benefits is on the table.
Better late than never.
Complexity Unbound
DRA’s lightly redacted public version analyzes the gap between anticipation and reality in Southern California Edison’s “Advanced Metering Infrastructure” (AMI or SmartConnect) rollout program.…
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