PrintPlease note that the list of resources provided here is not meant to be comprehensive. You are encouraged to research these issues on your own as well.
1. Do you support or oppose allowing state-subsidized power plants to participate in regional electricity markets without price controls?
(Note: This topic concerns a policy in electricity markets known as the "minimum offer price rule" or MOPR. The idea behind MOPR is that if renewable energy plants are highly subsidized by governments, but compete with conventional power plants in electricity markets, the government subsidy gives renewable power plants an unfair competitive advantage in the electricity market because the subsidy makes the renewable power plants look cheaper than they actually are. MOPR is a rule that forces a price floor on subsidized power plants in competitive electricity markets.)
- The MOPR Merry Go Round
(Power Magazine, March 2022) - Understanding FERC's 'Minimum Offer Price Rule'
(Advanced Energy Economy, 2019) - What the Minimum Offer Price Rule Means for Clean Energy Resources
(Resources Magazine, 2020) - FERC Orders PJM to Restrict State-Backed Renewables
(Greentech Media, December 2019)
2. Is the Biden Administration correct to increase the Social Cost of Carbon to $51/ton or should it have been kept at a lower level set by the Trump Administration?
- The Biden Administration Weighs the Social Cost of Carbon
(Wired, March 2021) - Here's the Deal: Could the Social Cost of Carbon Become a Key Component of Biden's Climate Strategy?
(Davis Wright Tremaine, LLP, April 2021) - The Supreme Court Okayed Biden's Social Cost of Carbon
(Vox, March 2022) - A Carbon Calculation: How Many Deaths Do Emissions Cause?
(New York Times, July 2021)
3. Do you support or oppose California's initiative to ban the sales of new gasoline-fueled cars by 2035?
- California Moves to Accelerate 100% New Zero Emission Vehicle Sales
(California Air Resources Board, August 2022) - Sapping California's Energy Future
(Pacific Resources Institute, June 2023) - Truckers are Caught on the Front Line of California's EV Push
(Wired, May 2023) - California E.V. Mandate Finds a Receptive Auto Industry
(New York Times, August 2022)
4. Do you support or Oppose H.R. 1019 (the E-BIKE Act)?
- 2021 H.R.1019 - E-BIKE Act
(U.S. House of Representatives, February 2021) - 2023 H.R.1019 - E-BIKE Act
(U.S. House of Representatives, March 2023) - The E-BIKE Act is Back and Better Than Ever
(The Verge, March 2023)
5. Would you support or oppose legislation that requires legislative approval for Pennsylvania to enter into a cap-and-trade program (such as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI), as HB 2025 of 2020 does?
- BOARD APPROVES RGGI RULE, MOVING PA. A STEP CLOSER TO JOINING CARBON EMISSIONS PROGRAM
(The Allegheny Front, July 2021) - BILL TO KEEP PA. OUT OF REGIONAL CAP-AND-TRADE PROGRAM PASSES, FACES GOVERNOR’S VETO
(The Allegheny Front, September 2020) - So Pennsylvania Might Join RGGI. What Comes Next?
(PennFuture, October 2019) - The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative
(RGGI, 2020) - Gov. Wolf Signs Executive Order on Greenhouse Gas, But Legal and Policy Questions Still Exist
(Juris Magazine, November 2019)
6. Do you support or oppose permitting of the Thacker Pass lithium mine in Nevada?
- Thacker Pass Mine Project
(Nevada Department of Environmental Protection, 2022) - Plans To Dig the Biggest Lithium Mine in the US Face Mounting Opposition
(Inside Climate News, 2021) - How We Survive: White Gold
(Marketplace, 2021 - this is the first episode of an eight-episode podcast series on lithium mining with a focus on the Thacker Pass mine; the entire series is very well done and worth listening to)
7. Do you support or oppose the domestic content requirements for renewable energy projects (wind and solar) to earn large tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act?
- Energy Tax Credits, Meant to Boost US Suppliers, May Be Hard to Get
(New York Times, January 2023) - Inflation Reduction Act: New Guidance on Domestic Content Bonus Credits
(Shearman and Sterling, May 2023)