Reason Foundation

Recent Research and Commentary

Reason's Len Gilroy Talks TVA Privatization, Annual Privatization Report on Heartland Institute Podcast

May 23, 2013, 3:54pm

Leonard Gilroy

Earlier this week, I had the pleasure of sitting down with the Heartland Institute's Steve Stanek for an episode of their Heartland Daily Podcast, where we discussed President Obama's recent budget proposal to study a potential privatization of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).

Like Obama said, Privatize the TVA!

April 29, 2013, 2:03pm

Adrian Moore

The Limits of Wind Power

Very high wind penetrations are not achievable in practice due to the increased need for power storage, the decrease in grid reliability, and the increased operating costs

October 4, 2012

William J. Korchinski, Julian Morris

Very high wind penetrations are not achievable in practice due to the increased need for power storage, the decrease in grid reliability, and the increased operating costs. Given these constraints, this study concludes that a more practical upper limit for wind penetration is 10%. At 10% wind penetration, the CO2 emissions reduction due to wind is approximately 45g CO2 equivalent/kWh, or about 9% of total.

Tortoises and BrightSource Are Costing Taxpayers Dearly

Latest green energy boondoggle shows why the government shouldn't be picking winners

September 10, 2012

Julian Morris

Last year BrightSource Energy received a $1.6 billion taxpayer-backed loan guarantee. It's the same type of loan that failed solar panel company Solyndra received but couldn’t pay back, costing taxpayers over $500 million.

BrightSource’s half-completed Ivanpah power station in Eastern Mohave aims to harness the sun’s rays to generate carbon free electricity and “green” jobs and has been touted by some as an exemplary environmental project. But when contractors discovered more desert tortoises than expected, the project earned the ire of environmentalists – and resulted in an expensive translocation program for the tortoises.

The desert tortoise is a remarkable creature. For thousands of years it has lived in the mostly-inhospitable environment of the Sonoran and Mojave deserts, eating the sparse grasses, herbs, shrubs, and early cacti, and escaping the searing 140 degree heat of the day by burrowing underground. But a combination of expanding human habitation, vandalism and capture has contributed to a rapid decline in tortoise numbers since the 1980s. Current estimates put the population at 100,000, making it a “threatened” species according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s criteria.

How much would you be willing to pay to save a single desert tortoise? $1? $10? $100? How about $108,910?

The Facts Behind EPA's Greenhouse Gas Regulations

April 3, 2012, 5:35pm

Adam Peshek

Get the Government Out of Solar

March 29, 2012

Adam Peshek

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