Germany’s Renewable Energy Shift: Addressing Climate Change

This essay considers how the state can be used successfully to initiate and support an energy shift from nuclear energy to renewable energy, as demonstrated by Germany’s Renewable Energy Act from 2000 and its previous Electricity Feed-in-Law (1991). As a result of these nationwide policies, Germany has reduced levels of greenhouse gas emissions, has a higher level of both energy security and employment in the renewable energy industry than the US. Germany is a global leader in this industry and provides a model for other nations in this regard.     

The Green New Deal Must Preserve the Existing Nuclear Fleet

Abstract

As the largest source of carbon-free energy in the United States, nuclear energy must play a vital role in reducing emissions. This article suggests the Green New Deal, an ambitious federal proposal to address climate change, should aim to preserve the existing nuclear fleet by authorizing states to establish zero emission credit (“ZEC”) programs. The ZEC programs will provide credits, in the form of revenue, for the carbon-free attribute of nuclear energy. This article posits the ZEC programs should be based on a model ZEC program developed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and explicitly authorized by amendment of the Federal Power Act to avoid issues of preemption.     

The Space Between: Demonization of Opponents and Policy Divergence

Prior research on policy conflicts indicates a tendency among policy actors to misperceive the influence of actors engaged in policy debates based on the degree of distance between their relative policy positions. This research develops a measure for assessing the degree and direction of the misperception effect. This measure is then utilized as a dependent variable to assess the relationship between theoretically relevant factors and the degree to which actors will exaggerate the influence of their opponents and allies. The research uses original survey data of policy actors engaged in the debate over hydraulic fracturing in New York. The results indicate misperceptions of relative influence are prevalent and most associated with the experience of a policy loss and holding relatively extreme policy beliefs. The findings provide new insight into factors that influence the demonization of political opponents. These insights are timely in the context of polarized debates over environmental and energy policy in the United States.     

The goals and reality of the water–food–energy security nexus: the case of China and its southern neighbours

The so-called ‘nexus’ approach has recently been promoted as addressing externalities across the water, food and energy sectors, thus helping to achieve ‘water/energy/food security for all’, ‘equitable and sustainable growth’ and a ‘resilient and productive environment’. While these are noble goals, this article argues that the reality on the ground appears to be taking a different direction, at least when it comes to China and its neighbours in South and Southeast Asia. There, a new era of large-scale water infrastructure development is creating several security-related problems, which represent serious challenges to the nexus goals. These challenges include food–energy tensions, human security threats and ecological risks. These challenges can also be linked to rising friction surrounding the management of water, food and energy resources in the region. The article argues that, in order for the nexus goals to be achieved in China and the countries on its southern periphery, there must first be increased awareness of this nexus among policy-making elites.     

Cultural Penetration and Punctuated Policy Change: Explaining the Evolution of U.S. Energy Policy

Punctuated equilibrium theory (PET) suggests that the policy process is characterized by long periods of incremental change and short periods of punctuated change. The impetus for the latter is usually a focusing event that breaks open policy monopolies, allowing for major changes in legislative decision making. While a burgeoning body of literature, a shortcoming in the PET literature is that it has yet to explain why focusing events and subsequent breakdowns in policy monopolies sometimes fail to result in punctuated policy. We integrate theories on cultural change with punctuated equilibrium to explain why focusing events do not always result in the dramatic policy changes that we might expect. Specifically, we use the context of national energy policy and the lexical database, Google Ngram Viewer, to trace punctuating energy‐related events and the occurrence or lack thereof subsequent policy change from 1952 to 2000.     

Identifying the Causes of Issue Attention and Policy Change: Evidence from U.S. Offshore Oil and Natural Gas Drilling Policy, 2008

The flow of attention in the policy process is dynamic and disruptive. While we know changes in issue attention often result in policy change, the causal mechanisms underlying the different stages of the attention allocation process remain unclear. This article uses Punctuated Equilibrium Theory to examine an underdeveloped aspect of issue attention within policy‐making institutions: how specific policy indicators influence the entry and exit of issues on policy‐making agendas. Partisan issue attention in the House of Representatives is used to analyze a significant change to U.S. offshore oil and natural gas drilling policy in 2008. The results highlight how historically high gasoline prices precipitated a shift in attention to offshore drilling and subsequent policy change. Moreover, gasoline prices Granger‐cause attention to energy policy in partisan speeches over time. The analysis further reveals how competing policy frames and a salient focusing event shaped congressional and public discourse, leading to subsequent changes in attention. Taken together, the findings broaden our understanding of the policy process by identifying the specific forces behind the entry and exit of issues on the policy‐making agenda.     

21世纪初国际能源格局及今后的中长期变化 ——兼论日本能源安全的出路与困境

为了应对全球气候变化，需对能源安全概念进行“范式转换”，即能源安全不仅要包括能源供需矛盾、能源供需网络的脆弱性和潜在风险，而且要与环境安全、水安全相结合，形成“广义的能源安全”概念。当前，一系列新因素正在使国际能源格局和能源范式发生重大变化：福岛核电站特大事故严重影响了全球公众对核安全的信心，今后世界各国发展核电会更加谨慎；可再生能源日益发展与普及；气候变暖正在改变能源资源与环境资源相加的自然资源“总格局”；非常规油气资源日益开发、天然气地位上升以及美洲能源供给新轴心崛起；“可燃冰革命”及海洋能源进一步开发。在福岛核事故后，日本能源安全既面临风险，又面临机遇。今后日本能源安全战略的动向主要是：坚持发展核电，但会更加谨慎稳健；积极开展能源外交，实现能源来源多元化；在一次能源结构中增大天然气的比重；大力发展可再生能源和节能；大力开发可燃冰等海洋能源资源。此外，当前日本政府错误的周边外交政策将成为日本能源安全最大的潜在风险，可望长期执政的自民党政权采取的鹰派民族主义政策，终将给日本惹祸，首当其冲的祸害对象就是日本的能源安全。     

Unexpected Persistence Amidst Enlargement Stasis: Usages of Europe in Turkey’s Nuclear Energy Debate

Recent studies on European Union (EU) Enlargement have emphasised the importance of usages of ‘Europe’ by domestic actors as a necessary condition for the EU to have an impact on domestic politics. We study the usages of Europe in the critical case of Turkey’s nuclear energy policy. We analyse the narratives and actions of domestic actors in Turkey to identify if they use ‘Europe’ (the EU and the idea of Europe). We reach the counter-intuitive finding of usages by both state and non-state actors, which illustrates that usages of Europe can persist despite enlargement stasis in candidate states.     

“零碳排放”校园建设的综合效果分析——以特里尔应用科技大学贝肯费尔德校区为例

德国特里尔应用科技大学通过开发各种可再生能源技术,在贝肯菲尔德校区建设＂零碳排放＂校园,实现了电能与热能供应的二氧化碳＂零排放＂。该文系统分析了＂零碳排放＂校园的主要做法及其效果,提出了中国发展低碳经济和开发利用可再生能源的对策。     

废弃电子产品回收处理体系构建及实现路径

废弃电子产品富含许多珍贵的矿产资源和有机物，若处置不当，不仅不能有效回收利用这些资源，还会引发严重的环境问题。当前中国经济发展明显受资源、环境的瓶颈制约，若能充分回收利用废弃电子产品，无疑是缓解资源、环境问题的有效途径。该文对中国加快回收利用废弃电子产品的动因及废弃电子产品回收处理现状进行了分析，梳理了国外废弃电子产品回收处理体系建设的经验。在此基础上，该文尝试构建适于中国的废弃电子产品回收处理体系，并指出实现该体系的具体路径。