Energy Resources & Access

From Marketplace: The Oklahoma Supreme Court will soon rule on a case that could hold oil and gas companies liable for earthquake-related damage. Since 2009, Oklahoma has experienced earthquakes at a rate nearly 300 times higher than previous decades. Several peer-reviewed studies link seismic activity with oil and gas development — in Oklahoma's case, that's fracking.

New Tucson Electric Power home solar customers relying on “net metering” to save on their electric bills would face a $22-per-month increase under a TEP proposal. The utility asked the Arizona Corporation Commission Wednesday to approve what it calls a more equitable price for electric service, while still offering solar users significant savings. They say it would reduce the “subsidy” that other electric customers pay to cover costs incurred by solar customers. ...

Marine ecosystems can take thousands, rather than hundreds, of years to recover from climate-related upheavals. 2013 Fellow Sarah Moffitt examined fossilized fauna on the seafloor to chart the changes. "There’s not a recovery we have to look forward to in my lifetime or my grandchildren's lifetime. It’s a gritty reality we need to face as scientists and people who care about the natural world and who make decisions about the natural world," she says.

On March 25th at the UC Davis Conference Center, the California Climate and Agriculture Network (CalCAN) awarded three individuals for their leadership in the field of agriculture and climate change. Awards are given to experts in three areas: Policy; Science; and Farming or Ranching. ...

From the Christian Science Monitor: California Gov. Jerry Brown took aim at two of the GOP’s brightest lights and their position on climate policy during his appearance on “Meet the Press” Sunday. His ammunition: the havoc that a four-year drought continues to wreak on the state of California. ...

More than 98 inches of snow has fallen in Boston this season, while workers have spent about 170,000 hours plowing the streets and distributed more than 76,000 tons of salt on roadways. At the same time, much of the American West, Rocky Mountains, and Northern and Central Plains have experienced warmer-than-average temperatures. California, in the grip of an epic drought, had its fourth-driest January ever recorded with just 15 percent of average precipitation. So what is going on with this extreme weather, and what does it have to do with global climate change?

Laura Wisland, a senior energy analyst for the Union of Concerned Scientists who formerly worked for the California Public Utilities Commission to implement its renewable portfolio standard, said the study affirms the value of siting solar in developed areas where land has already been disturbed. Building solar in those places can lower the costs and time associated with new clean energy development, she said, adding that the study can help cities and counties assess their solar energy potential.

When 2014 Fellow Karen Andradea arrived at UC Berkeley in 2009, she was surprised to discover how challenging it was for outside organizations to partner with students and faculty on research projects. So she set out to create the UC Berkeley Science Shop, a publicly accessible entity that connects small nonprofits, local government agencies, small businesses, and other civic organizations with undergraduate and graduate student researchers.

The realization that individual action has little to no impact on major environmental problems — to say nothing of the existential threat of climate change — can prompt despair, 1995 Fellow Paul Steinberg, a professor of political science and environmental policy at Harvey Mudd College, says. But it doesn’t have to. We could try, instead, consulting social scientists, who have spent a lot of time thinking about just this problem: How can a single individual can act in a way that effects large-scale change?