I contribute to the Energy Institute at Haas blog, which provides a new post every Monday. Sign up here to receive the posts via email.
My Posts
Carbon Pricing on the High Seas? The International Maritime Organization Gets Close to a Carbon Tax, October 2025.
From Belts and Suspenders to Pants Around the Ankles? The Rapidly Evolving Rollback of Policy Support for Electric Vehicles, July 2025.
Three Ways to Kill an Electric Vehicle Tariffs, rollbacks, and the IRA repeal threaten to stall America’s EV transition, just as it was beginning to scale, April 2025.
California’s Truck Decarbonization Puzzle A missing federal waiver means California needs a new route to cleaner trucks, but the detour presents an opportunity to improve policy design. February 2025.
Might Green Subsidies Trump Pollution Taxes? The fate of the Inflation Reduction Act will hold lessons for designing durable climate policy, November 2024.
Will the IRA Subsidize Natural Gas? Technology neutrality in the landmark legislation creates a loophole for natural gas, July 2024.
On Tariffs and the EV Transition The US needs to learn to stop worrying and love the Chinese auto industry. May 2024.
Can We Electrify Our Food? Clean electricity could decarbonize an important part of our food system, but not without policy innovation. March 2024.
Do High Interest Rates Threaten the Green Transition? Increased borrowing costs make long-term investments more expensive. December 2023.
Singing the Green Hydrogen Blues The IRA promises to get the clean hydrogen industry off the ground, but there are critical policy risks. September 2023.
Are Electric Trucks Ready for Primetime? California has a plan to take zero-emission trucking from 0 to 100, real quick; but pushing too fast may lead to unintended consequences. July 2023.
What is a Car? The regulatory history of automobiles is a cautionary tale for today’s energy regulators. April 2023.
Can ChatGPT Save the Planet? A look at how artificial intelligence will interact with our efforts to deal with climate change. January 2023.
Equitable Decarbonization Requires Rate Reform Electricity rates in California are a roadblock to decarbonization, but reform can help. September 2022.
Voluntary Green Power to the Rescue? Can the private sector lead on climate while Washington dithers? August 2022.
A Gap in California’s Plan for the EV Future Current proposals leave a giant loophole for used vehicles, but policy innovation can help. May 2022.
Can Federal Appliance Standards Spur Electrification? Key features of existing programs limit their ability to foster fuel switching, but there are alternatives. February 2022.
Cordon Zone Pricing: An Essential Tool for a Better Transportation Future New research examines the economics of cordon zones. November 2021.
The Supply-Side Economics of Residential Electrification Maybe we should be giving rebates to installers rather than households. August 2021.
The Road to Electrification is Paved with Convenient Chargers We need more and better charging infrastructure to win over electric vehicle skeptics. June 2021.
Ensuring Equity in California’s Energy Transition Residential electricity prices in California are on an unsustainable path. March 2021.
The Road to 100% Zero Emission Cars California is dreaming of a fossil-free transportation future. Smart choices and economic analysis are needed to bring it within reach. October 2020.
Who Killed Fuel Economy Standards? Obama-era standards are dead. Who pulled the trigger? July 2020.
COVID-19 and the Climate Can we squeeze some long-run good out of this short-run disaster? March 2020.
Waiving Goodbye to the California Waiver? The latest twist in the Trump fuel economy rollback. September 2019.
Rebound’s Role in Trump’s Fuel Economy Rollback A funny thing happened on the way to repealing fuel economy standards—program benefits went up. September 2018.
Does CAFE Work? Though imperfect, Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards have made US cars go farther on a gallon of gas. April 2018.
James M. Sallee 