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Full-Text Articles in Public Policy

How The Next Us President Should Slow Global Warming, Elizabeth L. Aldrich Oct 2007

How The Next Us President Should Slow Global Warming, Elizabeth L. Aldrich

Elizabeth Lokey Aldrich

This paper addresses the energy technologies and policies that the next US president should immediately implement to slow global warming. Increased reliance on renewable energy through deployment of a National Renewable Portfolio Standard will help meet increased electrical demand in a sustainable way. Carbon regulation through an internationally fungible cap and trade system will help make renewables more cost competitive with conventional energy. Mandating National Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standards will also help decrease electrical demand and reduce the need for large investments in new generation. Within the transportation sector, plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles should be rapidly deployed to shift …


A Critical Review Of The Energy Policy Act Of 2005'S Treatment Of Hydrogen, Elizabeth L. Aldrich Jul 2007

A Critical Review Of The Energy Policy Act Of 2005'S Treatment Of Hydrogen, Elizabeth L. Aldrich

Elizabeth Lokey Aldrich

The paper analyzes the Energy Policy Act's goals and proposed action in Title VIII, the section dedicated to hydrogen. It then assesses whether or not the resources dedicated to this cause are sufficient to overcome the obstacles facing the commercial use of hydrogen and fuel cells.


Valuing Renewable Energy In Emerging U.S. Carbon Markets, Elizabeth L. Aldrich Jun 2007

Valuing Renewable Energy In Emerging U.S. Carbon Markets, Elizabeth L. Aldrich

Elizabeth Lokey Aldrich

The inclusion or exclusion of renewable energy generators in emerging U.S. carbon markets could a have profound impact on the whether these markets have the intended effect of reducing overall carbon emissions and whether the voluntary market for green energy will remain or dissolve. This paper explores the allowance distribution schemes for cap-and-trade markets and their impact on renewable energy. The current input-based allocation system proposed for the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative in the Northeastern U.S. prevents renewable energy from contributing to emissions reductions within the market and will preclude green power marketers from advertising carbon offset claims for this …


Creative Renewable Energy Purchasing Options For Businesses, Elizabeth L. Aldrich May 2007

Creative Renewable Energy Purchasing Options For Businesses, Elizabeth L. Aldrich

Elizabeth Lokey Aldrich

No abstract provided.


Learning From People, Things, And Signs, Michael H.G. Hoffmann Jan 2007

Learning From People, Things, And Signs, Michael H.G. Hoffmann

Michael H.G. Hoffmann

Starting from the observation that small children can count more objects than numbers—a phenomenon that I am calling the “lifeworld dependency of cognition”—and an analysis of finger calculation, the paper shows how learning can be explained as the development of cognitive systems. Parts of those systems are not only an individual's different forms of knowledge and cognitive abilities, but also other people, things, and signs. The paper argues that cognitive systems are first of all semiotic systems since they are dependent on signs and representations as mediators. The two main questions discussed here are how the external world constrains and …


The Complementarity Of A Representational And An Epistemological Function Of Signs In Scientific Activity, Michael H.G. Hoffmann, Wolff-Michael Roth Jan 2007

The Complementarity Of A Representational And An Epistemological Function Of Signs In Scientific Activity, Michael H.G. Hoffmann, Wolff-Michael Roth

Michael H.G. Hoffmann

Signs do not only “represent” something for somebody, as Peirce’s definition goes, but also “mediate” relations between us and our world, including ourselves, as has been elaborated by Vygotsky. We call the first the representational function of a sign and the second the epistemological function since in using signs we make distinctions, specify objects and relations, structure our observations, and organize societal and cognitive activity. The goal of this paper is, on the one hand, to develop a model in which both these functions appear as complementary and, on the other, to show that this complementarity is essential for the …


Creative Renewable Energy Purchasing Options For Businesses, Elizabeth L. Aldrich Dec 2006

Creative Renewable Energy Purchasing Options For Businesses, Elizabeth L. Aldrich

Elizabeth Lokey Aldrich

A growing number of businesses have begun to consider the benefits of voluntarily purchasing renewable energy. This new interest from large commercial clients has prompted green energy providers to create novel ways for these entities to get involved in the long-term development of new renewable energy generation. Some of these new plans are designed so that the purchase of this energy can provide long-term off-take stability and other financial benefits to companies developing the renewable energy projects. However, since some of these new purchasing options involve a certain amount of financial risk on the part of the business, there is …