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Disparities in health outcomes between Black and White Americans are well-documented, including sleep quality, and disparities in sleep may lead to disparities in health over the life course. A meta-model indicates that cognitive processes may underly the connection between race and poor sleep quality, and ultimately, health disparities. That is, there are race-specific stressors that disproportionately affect Black Americans, which are associated with poor health through biological, cognitive, and behavioral mechanisms (e.g., sleep). Among these race-specific stressors is discrimination, which has been linked to poor sleep quality, and there is a body of literature connecting perseverative cognition (e.g., rumination and worry or vigilance) to poor sleep. Microaggressions, a more subtle but pervasive form of discrimination, are another race-specific stressor. Although less research has considered the connection of microaggressions to perseverative cognition, there are some studies linking microaggressions to health outcomes and sleep. Therefore, using a cross-sectional survey, we tested the following hypotheses: racism-related vigilance and rumination would mediate the relationship between discrimination and poor sleep as well as between microaggressions and poor sleep among Black Americans (N = 223; mean age = 35.77 years, 53.8% men, 86% employed, 66.8% with college degree or higher education). Results of seven parallel mediation models showed that neither rumination nor racism-related vigilance mediated a relationship between discrimination and poor sleep quality. However, rumination partially mediated relationships between the six microaggression sub-scales and poor sleep quality: there were significant indirect effects for Foreigner/Not Belonging (β =.13, SE = 0.03, 95% CI 0.08, 0.20), Criminality (β =.11, SE = 0.03, 95% CI 0.05, 0.17), Sexualization (β =.10, SE = 0.03, 95% CI 0.05, 0.17), Low-Achieving/Undesirable (β =.10, SE = 0.03, 95% CI 0.05, 0.15), Invisibility (β =.15, SE = 0.04, 95% CI 0.08, 0.23), and Environmental Invalidations (β =.15, SE = 0.04, 95% CI 0.08, 0.23). Overall, these findings indicate support for the meta-model, demonstrating a specific pathway from racial microstressors to poor sleep quality. Furthermore, these results suggest the importance of developing clinical and community approaches to address the impact of microaggressions on Black Americans' sleep quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Article explores the public policy benefits associated with increased access to energy consumption data as well as the legal and institutional barriers that currently prevent such access. As state and local governments as well as electricity users attempt to improve the efficiency of their buildings, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and realize the promises of improved demand side management of energy resources, the need for electricity and other energy-related data becomes even more pressing. But the current law that balances making energy consumption data available against any privacy or confidentiality interests in the data is underdeveloped. Thus, this Article draws on the more sophisticated legal frameworks governing health care, education, and environmental emissions data that balance the public policy needs for data evaluation with countervailing interests. A review of the law in these fields shows that the privacy and confidentiality interests in energy consumption data may be overstated and, in any event, can be adequately addressed in most instances through aggregating the data, using historic rather than current data, or through contracts and other agreements to ensure security where access to individualized data is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interest in the potential of smart grid to transform the way societies generate, distribute, and use electricity has increased dramatically over the past decade. A smarter grid could contribute to both climate change mitigation and adaptation by increasing low-carbon electricity production and enhancing system reliability and resilience. However, climate goals are not necessarily essential for smart grid. Climate change is only one of many considerations motivating innovation in electricity systems, and depending on the path of grid modernization, a future smart grid might do little to reduce, or could even exacerbate, risks associated with climate change. This paper identifies tensions within a shared smart grid vision and illustrates how competing societal priorities are influencing electricity system innovation. Co-existing but divergent priorities among key actors' are mapped across two critical dimensions: centralized versus decentralized energy systems and radical versus incremental change. Understanding these tensions provides insights on how climate change objectives can be integrated to shape smart grid development. Electricity system change is context-specific and path-dependent, so specific strategies linking smart grid and climate change need to be developed at local, regional, and national levels. And while incremental improvements may bring short term gains, a radical transformation is needed to realize climate objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses various interstate transmission challenges in regards to renewable energy in the U.S. as of November 2012, focusing on the nation's electric power industry and transmission grid, as well as issues related to wind power. American transmission law and policy in the twenty-first century are addressed, along with federalism, state renewable energy and transmission policies, and federal laws which govern the siting of transmission lines. Federal preemption is also examined.

Abstract: The potential to capture carbon from industrial sources and dispose of it for the long-term, known as carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), is widely recognized as an important option to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions. Specifically, CCS has the potential to provide emissions cuts sufficient to stabilize greenhouse gas levels, while still allowing for the continued use of fossil fuels. In addition, CCS is both technologically-feasible and commercially viable compared with alternatives with the same emissions profile. Although the concept appears to be solid from a technical perspective, initial public perceptions of the technology are uncertain. Moreover, little attention has been paid to developing an understanding of the social and political institutional infrastructure necessary to implement CCS projects. In this paper we explore a particularly dicey issue—how to ensure adequate long-term monitoring and maintenance of the carbon sequestration sites. Bonding mechanisms have been suggested as a potential mechanism to reduce these problems (where bonding refers to financial instruments used to ensure regulatory or contractual commitments). Such mechanisms have been successfully applied in a number of settings (e.g., to ensure court appearances, completion of construction projects, and payment of taxes). The paper examines the use of bonding to address environmental problems and looks at its possible application to nascent CCS projects. We also present evidence on the use of bonding for other projects involving deep underground injection of materials for the purpose of long-term storage or disposal. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract The economic viability of new energy technologies is held as a central tenet to their future deployment; conventional wisdom posits economically rational decision-makers will readily invest in proven low-risk and affordable technologies. But what happens when this is not true. This paper examines the non-financial barriers facing economically viable Combined Heat and Power (CHP) projects. CHP is a mature and lower carbon technology that efficiently uses waste heat from thermal electricity generation; CHP can also provide flexibility services to help integrate variable renewable resources. CHP is low risk and many industrialized countries, particularly those in colder climates in Northern Europe and Russia, generate as much as 50% of their electricity and heat needs from CHP, but United States deployment remains low and investment hurdle rates high. While lower U.S. energy costs make some projects un-economic, many economically-viable CHP projects are stalled or killed by non-financial barriers. To better understand why financially viable CHP projects are not getting built, developers, owners and operators, regulators, and other stakeholders of this technology were interviewed and three major barriers emerged a) the business model of the electrical utility b) negative subjective impressions and c) challenges in allocating the risks and benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Without careful planning and design, energy policies like carbon taxes and renewable subsidies like production tax credits undercut one another in unanticipated ways. We examine how a carbon tax interacts with PTCs by simulating an electricity market using the IEEE RTS model with a carbon tax of $38/tonCO2e and a PTC of $23/MWh. The results show that PTCs work against the carbon tax by both lowering average energy prices and altering the generator dispatch. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smart grid has strong potential to advance and encourage renewable energy deployment, but given the multiple motivations for smart grid, renewables are not always central in smart grid policy discussions. The term "smart grid" represents a set of technologies, including advanced meters, sensors and energy storage that are crucial for the integration of more renewable and low carbon electricity into the electric power grid. However, developing and building a smart grid is jurisdictionally complex, path dependent and context specific; states and regions are approaching grid modernization in different ways. This paper reports on a comparative analysis of smart grid development in seven U.S. states. We use state-level policy documents to learn what motivates smart grid development and how smart grid is framed in relation to renewable energy. In some states, renewable technologies are presented as an integral part of the smart grid policy discussion, while in others they are largely absent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Over the past decade, the United States (US) has demonstrated strong and evolving interest in the development of carbon capture and storage (CCS), an emerging set of technologies with potential to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants. Given the many technical, economic, and environmental uncertainties about the future of CCS, the political salience of this technology is high. In the US, states make key decisions about deploying energy technology projects, but variation in state-level energy context (both technical and socio-political) is substantial. This research assesses variation in the state-level energy context for CCS development by exploring energy policy stakeholders' perceptions of CCS in four geographically and demographically diverse states. Policy stakeholders have different degrees of familiarity with CCS, and the goal of this research is to understand and compare the perceptions of CCS among stakeholders who shape state-level energy policy. Semi-structured interviews with 84 energy policy stakeholders across government, industry, academia, and non-governmental organizations active in four different states (Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana and Texas) were analyzed to compare perceptions of CCS risks and benefits. Negative associations of CCS were mentioned more frequently than positive attributes in each state, and technical, political and economic risks are more dominant than environmental or health and safety risks. Content analysis of the interviews provides insight on emerging sub-national discourse regarding CCS, on state-level variation in familiarity with CCS, and on sub-national variation in the socio-political context for energy technologies. The variation in state and stakeholder energy priorities and perceptions revealed in this study highlights challenges in the development and implementation of national-level energy policy and also specific challenges in the deployment of CCS. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Grid-scale energy storage are modeled to arbitrage in electricity market. • Storage-induced emissions are estimated in two power grids with high and low wind penetration. • High wind penetration can favorably pair with storage and reduce air pollutant burden. • Carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and mercury emissions are estimated. • Storage-induced emissions are 42-64% lower in the high- than in the low-wind grid. Energy storage provides many benefits that can improve electric grid performance but has been shown to increase overall system emissions. Yet, how energy storage might interreact with renewables in existing grids and how these interactions affect overall emissions remain unclear. Here, we estimate emissions induced by battery energy storage in two regions of the United States with very different levels of wind penetration using high-resolution, both spatially and temporally, locational marginal prices and hourly marginal emission factors. We find that the emission intensity of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and mercury is 4264% lower in the high wind penetration grid (28%) than in the low wind penetration grid (<5%). This is due in part to a significant share of wind dispatched as marginal fuel in baseload hours when battery storage charges from the grid, reducing storage-induced emissions. Our study suggests that more wind generation can favorably pair with storage and reduce the air pollution burdens otherwise caused by storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]