Energy and Environment

Working Papers

A Survey of Environmental Policies Among the States: 2015

March 1, 2015

Heather Kirkpatrick

The purpose of this study is to begin to develop a comprehensive assessment of the relative activity of the US states in developing environmental policies. We did this by developing eleven policy categories varying across different environmental and...

Acceptance of Global Warming Among Americans Moderately Increases in Late 2014

February 1, 2015

The fall 2014 version of the National Surveys on Energy and Environment (NSEE) finds 60% of Americans believe that there is solid evidence of increasing temperatures on Earth. These findings represent a moderate rebound from the three-year low...

IEEP

Public Support for Regulation of Power Plant Emissions Under the Clean Power Plan

January 15, 2015

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency launched a major new greenhouse gas reduction initiative in June 2014 through the release of its proposed Carbon Pollution Standards for Existing Power Plants. Better known as the Clean Power Plan (CPP), EPA...

Farming the Wind: The Impact of Wind Energy on Farming

January 1, 2015

Sarah Mills

In February 2014, owners of farmland in 14 townships in Michigan were sent a mail survey about their opinions of wind energy, recent investments in their homes and farms, and their future plans for their land. A total of 1,210 landowners—72% of all...

IEEP

Opportunity, Risk, and Public Acceptability: The Question of Shale Gas Exploitation in Québec

October 1, 2014

The Canadian province of Québec has the largest reserves of shale gas in Eastern Canada, but Québeckers are in the midst of a heated debate over the desirability of exploiting this resource. At issue is the controversial technique of hydraulic...

IEEP

Shale Governance in the European Union: Principles and Practice

October 1, 2014

The extraction of shale gas—mainly through the process of hydraulic fracturing or “fracking”—has become a central if contentious area of energy policy in the European Union (EU). Like their US counterparts, European policymakers are attracted by the...

IEEP

Public Opinion on Hydraulic Fracturing in the province of Quebec: A Comparison with Michigan and Pennsylvania

October 1, 2014

This report summarizes main findings of a comparative survey project, with a focus on explaining why attitudes toward fracking in Quebec are markedly different than in Pennsylvania and Michigan. The report is divided into three main parts. First the...

MPPS

Beyond the coast, a tenuous relationship between Michigan local governments and the Great Lakes

September 1, 2014

This report presents the opinions of Michigan’s local government leaders regarding the bonds – economic and otherwise – between their jurisdictions and the Great Lakes, their support or opposition to policies designed to protect the health of the...

IEEP

Public Perceptions of Shale Gas Extraction and Hydraulic Fracturing in New York and Pennsylvania

September 1, 2014

Given the large economic, environmental, and social implications from the issue of shale gas and the process to extract it of hydraulic fracturing combined with horizontal drilling (or “fracking” as it is commonly known), it is not surprising that...

MPPS

Wind power as a community issue in Michigan

July 1, 2014

This report presents the opinions of Michigan local government leaders on issues related to wind energy. It looks at the prevalence of wind turbines in jurisdictions across the state, opinions about the benefits and drawbacks of wind energy, sources...

IEEP

Public Views on a Carbon Tax Depend on the Proposed Use of Revenue

July 1, 2014

Conventional wisdom holds that a carbon tax is a political non-starter. However, results from the latest version of the National Surveys on Energy and Environment (NSEE) provide evidence of substantial public support for a tax on the carbon content...

IEEP

American Acceptance of Global Warming Retreats in Wake of Winter 2014

June 1, 2014

The winter of 2014 took its toll on many aspects of life in the United States. From individual level costs such as increased heating expenses and disrupted work schedules to broad economic effects including strained public works budgets and slower...

IEEP

Public Opinion on Climate Change and Support for Various Policy Instruments in Canada and the US

June 1, 2014

This report summarizes results from national-level surveys on public attitudes toward climate change administered in Canada and the US in Fall 2013. Since 2008, the National Surveys on Energy and Environment (formerly the National Surveys of...

MPPS

Fracking as a community issue in Michigan

June 1, 2014

This report presents the opinions of Michigan local government leaders on issues in their communities related to the process of extracting natural gas through high-volume hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling of underground shale deposits,...

IEEP

Environmental Policy in the Great Lakes Region: Current Issues and Public Opinion

April 2, 2014

This report reviews historical and current environmental problems in the Great Lakes and discusses attempts to address them through both joint (Canada-US) and unilateral policy. It then presents the results of a telephone survey of 1,247 residents...

IEEP

Shale Gas and Hydraulic Fracturing in the Great Lakes Region: Current Issues and Public Opinion

April 1, 2014

This report presents the views of people living within the Great Lakes Basin regarding hydraulic fracturing and shale gas drilling. Hydraulic fracturing, the injection of a fluid after drilling to crack open shale rock to release oil or gas, has...

IEEP

Wind Energy Development in the Great Lakes Region: Current Issues and Public Opinion

April 1, 2014

This report outlines the status of wind energy policy and development in the Great Lakes Region, and compares this to public opinion on wind energy within the context of existing literature. The vast majority of residents within the Basin would like...

IEEP

The Decline of Public Support for State Climate Change Policies: 2008-2013

March 1, 2014

The first decade of the 2000s was a period of active and largely unanticipated state engagement in the development of policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This triggered substantial social science literature that explored the drivers behind...

IEEP

Using Information Disclosure to Achieve Policy Goals: How Experience with the Toxics Release Inventory Can Inform Action on Natural Gas Fracturing

March 1, 2014

In one of the most striking developments in recent years, the fracturing of shale deposits has transformed the U.S. energy economy by sharply increasing the supply of natural gas and lowering its cost. Shale fracturing, or fracking, also poses...

IEEP

State of the Debate: Natural Gas Fracking in New York’s Marcellus Shale

January 1, 2014

Natural gas extraction through high-volume hydraulic fracturing, often used with horizontal drilling (“fracking”), increased by 24 percent from 2006 to 2011, and is projected to grow unabated. One of the most promising sources of natural gas is the...

IEEP

The Chilling Effect of Winter 2013 on American Acceptance of Global Warming

June 1, 2013

This report presents findings drawn from an April 2013 telephone survey conducted by the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion (Muhlenberg Institute), in collaboration with the University of Michigan Center for Local, State, and Urban...

IEEP

Public Opinion on Fracking: Perspectives from Michigan and Pennsylvania

May 1, 2013

This report presents the views of Michigan and Pennsylvania citizens on issues related to the extraction of natural gas through hydraulic fracturing (commonly known as “fracking”). The findings are drawn from an October and November 2012 telephone...

IEEP

NSEE Findings Report for Belief-Related Questions

March 1, 2013

This report presents the views of American citizens on the existence of global warming, including their reasons for belief or disbelief, with particular attention on the role played by recent notable weather and climate events, including severe...

IEEP

NSEE Public Opinion on Climate Policy Options

December 1, 2012

This report presents the views of American citizens on a range of issues linked to the possible development of federal and state policies intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This report responds to the evolving American debate over...

Working Papers

Feasibility and Implications of the Michigan 2012 Proposal 3 for a 25% State Renewable Portfolio Standard

October 1, 2012

Elisabeth Moyer, Sean Johnson, Lexie Goldberger, Joe Zhu, Center for Robust Decision-making on Climate and Energy Policy, University of Chicago

Analysis of wind resources suggests that the proposed expansion of Michigan's renewable portfolio standard to require that 25\% of the state's electricity sales derive from renewables (Proposal 3 on the 2012 ballot) can be met by its 2025 target...

Policy Reports

Fracking for Natural Gas: Public Opinion on State Policy Options

November 1, 2011

Barry Rabe, Christopher Borick

This report presents the views of Pennsylvania citizens on a range of issues related to extraction of natural gas through "fracking" procedures. The report responds to a discovery of potentially massive deposits beneath the Marcellus Shale and a...

MPPS

Local government and environmental leadership: views of Michigan's local leaders

July 1, 2011

The Fall 2010 MPPS asked Michigan's local government leaders about their views on global warming and environmental sustainability, and the role of local government in these areas. While Michigan's local leaders are divided in their views about the...

Policy Reports

Climate Compared: Public Opinion on Climate Change in the United States and Canada

February 1, 2011

Christopher Borick, Erick Lachapelle, Barry Rabe

The following report summarizes results drawn from national level surveys in the United States and Canada that examine public perceptions regarding various aspects of climate change. Since 2008, the National Survey of American Public Opinion on...

Working Papers

Emissions Trading, Electricity Industry Restructuring, and Investment in Pollution Abatement

February 2, 2009

Meredith Fowlie

Policymakers are increasingly relying on emissions trading programs to address environmental problems caused by air pollution. If polluting firms in an emissions trading program face different economic regulations and investment incentives in their...

Working Papers

Incomplete Environmental Regulation, Imperfect Competition, and Emissions Leakage

February 1, 2009

Meredith Fowlie

For political, jurisdictional and technical reasons, environmental regulation of industrial pollution is often incomplete: regulations apply to only a subset of facilities contributing to a pollution problem. Policymakers are increasingly concerned...