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In the energy sector of Canadian economic and political life, power has a double meaning. It is quintessentially about the generation of power and physical energy. However, it is also about political power, the energy of the economy, and thus the overall governance of Canada. Power Switch offers a critical examination of the changing nature of energy regulatory governance, with a particular focus on Canada in the larger contexts of the George W. Bush administration's aggressive energy policies and within North American energy markets. Focusing on the key institutions and complex regimes of regulation, Bruce Doern and Monica Gattinger look at specific regulatory bodies such as the National Energy Board, the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board, and the Ontario Energy Board. They also examine the complex systems of rule making that develop as traditional energy regulation interacts and often collides with environmental and climate change regulation, such as the Kyoto Protocol on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Power Switch is one of the first accounts in many years of Canada's overall energy regulatory system.
More than 50 percent of the global population resides in urban areas where land policy and infrastructure interactions facilitate economic opportunities, affect the quality of life, and influence patterns of urban development. While infrastructure is as old as cities, technological changes and public policies on taxation and regulation produce new issues worthy of analysis, ranging from megaprojects and greenhouse gas emissions to involuntary resettlement. This volume, based on the 2012 seventh annual Land Policy Conference at the Lincoln Institute, brings together economists, social scientists, urban planners, and engineers to discuss how infrastructure issues impact low-, middle-, and high-income countries. Infrastructure drives economic and social activities. For urban areas, the challenges of balancing economic growth with infrastructure development and maintenance are reflected in debates about finance, regulation, and location and about the sustainable levels of infrastructure services. Relevant sectors include energy (electricity and natural gas); telecommunications (phone lines, mobile phone service, and Internet); transportation (airports, railways, roads, waterways, and seaports); and water supply and sanitation (piped water, irrigation, and sewage collection and treatment). Recent research shows that inadequate infrastructure is associated with income inequality. This is likely linked to the delivery of infrastructure services to households, such as direct health benefits, improved access to education, and enhanced economic opportunities. Because so much infrastructure is energy intensive, efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other negative impacts must address services such as electric power and transport. Bringing the management of infrastructure up to levels of good practice has a large economic payoff, and performance levels vary dramatically between and within countries. A crucial unmet challenge is to convince policy makers and voters that large economic returns can result from improving infrastructure performance and maintenance.
This report encourages governments to “think big” about the relevance of regulatory policy and assesses the recent efforts of OECD countries to develop and deepen regulatory policy and governance.
The generation of electricity by wind energy has the potential to reduce environmental impacts caused by the use of fossil fuels. Although the use of wind energy to generate electricity is increasing rapidly in the United States, government guidance to help communities and developers evaluate and plan proposed wind-energy projects is lacking. Environmental Impacts of Wind-Energy Projects offers an analysis of the environmental benefits and drawbacks of wind energy, along with an evaluation guide to aid decision-making about projects. It includes a case study of the mid-Atlantic highlands, a mountainous area that spans parts of West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. This book will inform policy makers at the federal, state, and local levels.