News

My ‘All of the Above’ Energy Vacation

June 4, 2018
Each year I teach an energy law short course at UC-Santa Barbara, and this year my wife and I drove to California from Austin by way of national parks in Utah...

Slow down on using Blockchain for clean energy trades

March 29, 2018
In an op-ed published by Columbia University Law School’s Climate Law Blog, UT Prof. David Spence urges caution in evaluating the use of blockchain...

Offshore Drilling: Whither State Influence?

Jan. 12, 2018
The Trump Administration recently announced its intention to consider opening large swaths of the Atlantic, Pacific and eastern Gulf coasts for oil and gas production.

How Not to Talk About Energy Policy

Nov. 20, 2017
The Trump Administration continues to pursue a suite of pro-coal policies of questionable wisdom and legality while energy leaders from around the world gathered in Germany to discuss...

Rumors of coal power’s demise are not greatly exaggerated

Oct. 26, 2017
While there are legitimate questions about how competitive markets will ensure a reliable supply of electricity, a proposed rule to subsidize coal-fired power plants that are struggling...

Through the Looking Glass with the Clean Power Plan

Oct. 18, 2017
The Enivronmetal Protection Agency recently proposed repeal of the Clean Power Plan, a key Obama Administration rule regulating power plant carbon dioxide emissions. The law requires the EPA to a prepare...

The old, dirty, creaky US electric grid would cost $5 trillion to replace. Where should infrastructure spending go?

March 17, 2017
The electric grid is an amazing integrated system of machines spanning an entire continent. The National Academy of Engineering has called it one of the greatest engineering achievements of the 20th century...

Spence: markets alone cannot balance conflicting demands for low cost, environmentally sound, and reliable electricity supply

Feb. 28, 2017
In the 24 states that have deregulated their electricity markets to allow competition, providers have brought down prices while increasing the supply of green energy, says Prof. David Spence...

Avoiding Bias in Debate of Energy Policy: Prof. David Spence on the Roots of Public Disharmony

Sept. 15, 2015
The veracity of sound scientific research eventually drives greater public understanding of energy issues, but first has to overcome deep-seated and pervasive biases that dominate public debate...