The term “scenario” was introduced by a group of researchers at the RAND Corporation in the 1960s. Herman Kahn explained its origin in 1979: “We deliberately chose the word [scenario] to…
By Roger Pielke Jr. | February 10, 2025
One of the enduring mysteries from the first Trump term as president is the source of the ostensible deep affection between the two, as expressed, for example, in letters that they exchanged.…
By Benjamin Zycher | February 4, 2025
It was the future. It would demonstrate how to save the planet. It would produce electricity clean and cheap and immune to the vagaries of international shifts in prices, interest…
By Benjamin Zycher | February 3, 2025
As a follow-on to my previous two posts on regional transmission organizations (RTOs) in electricity, I was heading in a direction that relies on you, dear reader, having a foundational…
By Lynne Kiesling | January 31, 2025
Event Description The tensions between development and sustainability and production and conservation, combined with the ongoing debate over energy sources, have taken center stage in recent years. Join us for…
By Brent Orrell | January 29, 2025
Last year the world experienced the most major hurricane landfalls since records are available, tying only 2015, with 11 storms. Does last year indicate that we have reached a new…
By Roger Pielke Jr. | January 27, 2025
Whether it’s rising electricity bills, reliability concerns, an impetus for decarbonization, or the related importance of grid modernization, power systems in the U.S. and around the world are struggling with…
By Lynne Kiesling | January 24, 2025
The Trump “Day One” executive orders on energy and environment policies are worthy of applause because they implement a shift toward market forces in place of central planning as the dominant institution…
By Ben Zycher | January 24, 2025
Event Summary On January 21, AEI’s Michael R. Strain and James W. Coleman welcomed two panels of experts to discuss the policies and regulations for building physical infrastructure in the…
By James W. Coleman | Michael R. Strain | January 22, 2025
Dave Jones, California’s insurance commissioner from 2011 to 2018, explained California’s growing insurance crisis in 2023: Due to the failure to substantially reduce greenhouse-gas emissions in the U.S. and globally, we…
By Roger Pielke Jr. | January 21, 2025
The California Air Resources Board last November requested from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency a waiver under section 209(e) of the Clean Air Act for implementation of its “In-Use Locomotive Regulation,” an…
By Benjamin Zycher | January 13, 2025
The “clean energy transition” — the wholesale replacement of conventional (for the most part fossil) energy with such unconventional technologies as wind and solar power — has been the raison d’être for…
By Benjamin Zycher | January 12, 2025
2025 is already shaping up to be a year of change for many reasons related to the economics and technology of energy. Between the uncertainty arising from a political change…
By L. Lynne Kiesling | January 10, 2025
The Office of the Solicitor General — part of the Department of Justice —was created by the Statutory Authorization Act of June 22, 1870. The Act states that there shall be an…
By Benjamin Zycher | January 8, 2025
The United States holds a commanding lead in data-center capacity, hosting 37% of the world’s facilities, and being home to the largest data center providers — Amazon.com, Microsoft, and Alphabet. These data…
By Mark Jamison | December 23, 2024