May 15, 2013

"Privacy Consciousness in the Big Data Era"

Hive

By Vivek Mohan, Research Fellow, Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program/Information and Communications Technology and Public Policy Project

"...[S]ocietal inertia cannot be held up ipso facto to argue for stronger privacy protections when we ourselves are responsible for sharing the data that is now traversing the endless servers of cyberspace. The benefits of the big data revolution are myriad, cut across sectors, and the best is surely yet to come."

May 14, 2013

"Change the Conversation, Change the Venue and Change Our Future"

By Melissa Hathaway, Senior Advisor, Explorations in Cyber International Relations

"The G20 has an opportunity to articulate a vision for shaping the Internet economy for the next five to 10 years. The power of the leadership of this body, combined with its ability to assemble and speak to a simple, positive narrative for cybersecurity anchored in our collective economic well-being (and GDP growth), could be a watershed event. The GDP erosion that all nations are suffering places cybersecurity within the legitimate processes and 'architecture' of international economic governance. By changing the conversation to being about the economy and growth, this approach would enable the G20 to de-escalate the militarization and balkanization of the Internet."

May 3, 2013

"Calming the West's Water Wars"

Los Angeles Times

By Scott Moore, Giorgio Ruffolo Doctoral Research Fellow, Sustainability Science Program/Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group

"The president and Congress, despite the political and organizational barriers, can nonetheless take steps to help end America's water wars. First, Congress should restore funding for the U.S. Water Resources Council and the regional River Basin Commissions. Before they were de-funded during the Reagan administration, these bodies served as focal points for water policy and as useful platforms for dialogue between states and the federal government. By fostering sustained, structured communication among Washington and the states themselves, they can help prevent disputes from arising in the first place."

April 2013

"DOE Budget Authority for Energy Research, Development, & Demonstration Database"

By Kelly Sims Gallagher, Senior Associate, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group and Laura Diaz Anadon, Associate Director, Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program; Director, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group; Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy

In our annual review of the budget request for fiscal year 2014 for the Department of Energy's energy research, development, demonstration (RD&D) programs, we observe that it is significantly higher than the FY12 budget, a 33 percent increase overall, from $3.25 billion to $4.30 billion (current dollars), not including basic energy sciences. The increase in basic energy sciences is also large compared with FY12, a 17 percent increase for a total of $1.74 billion.  We observe a huge decline in spending on deployment programs since the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act.  Our database, including charts, is available for download.

AP Photo

April 22, 2013

"China Moves Cautiously Ahead on Nuclear Energy"

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

By Hui Zhang, Senior Research Associate, Project on Managing the Atom and Shangui Zhao, Former Research Fellow, Project on Managing the Atom/International Security Program, September 2012–March 2013

"Although China has every intention of continuing nuclear energy development, in the aftermath of Fukushima it has approved a number of plans to enhance safety standards. All of them emphasize that the pace of growth should be controlled to minimize risk."

March 2013

"The Next Frontier in United States Unconventional Shale Gas and Tight Oil Extraction: Strategic Reduction of Environmental Impact"

By Meagan Mauter, Visiting Scholar, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group, Vanessa R. Palmer, Yiqiao Tang and A. Patrick Behrer

The unconventional fossil fuel extraction industry—in the U.S., primarily shale gas and tight oil—is expected to continue expanding dramatically in coming decades as conventionally recoverable reserves wane. At the global scale, a long-term domestic supply of natural gas is expected to yield environmental benefits over alternative sources of fossil energy. At the local level, however, the environmental impacts of shale gas and tight oil development may be significant. The development of technology, management practices, and regulatory policies that mitigate the associated environmental impacts of shale gas development is quickly becoming the next frontier in U.S. unconventional fossil resource extraction.

Forthcoming 2013

"Bridging Decision Networks for Integrated Water and Energy Planning"

Energy Strategy Reviews

By Afreen Siddiqi, Visting Scholar, Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program, Arani Kajenthira, Associate, Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program and Laura Diaz Anadon, Associate Director, Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program; Director, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group; Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy

Integrated policy and planning is needed to effectively meet the challenges of growing water and energy inter-dependencies in many regions. Joint consideration of both water and energy domains can identify new options for increasing overall resource use efficiencies. In order to identify and realize such opportunities, however, detailed knowledge of current and emerging water–energy couplings is needed along with a nuanced understanding of key actors and agencies engaged in decision-making. In this paper we develop a systematic, analytical approach based on quantitative analysis of water and energy couplings, identification and characterization of key actors and groups using concepts from stakeholders theory, and employing notions from organization theory of boundary-spanning agents that can serve to bridge inter-organizational networks for water and energy planning. We apply this approach to conduct an in-depth investigation of water and energy resources in Jordan.