Texas' ERCOT ISO is used as a model for examining the costs of replacing fossil fuels by wind generation and storage, and for comparing wind power with generation based on nuclear and storage.
In early 2017, Mayor Sylvester Turner appointed Baker Institute fellow Quianta Moore to his newly created Task Force on Equity, which was charged with developing actionable policy recommendations to make Houston a more equitable place to live.
The unfettered development of Houston's flood-prone areas undoubtedly magnified the tremendous damage caused by Hurricane Harvey, but zoning or other land use controls are unpopular on the Texas coast and are unlikely to be adopted as a result. With this in mind, the SSPEED Center at Rice University looked to innovation and the market system to find a creative solution to protect important natural, flood-prone areas from further development.
Faculty scholar Jim Blackburn proposes a series of realistic ideas that can substantially reduce misery and damage the next time a catastrophic storm like Harvey tears through the Houston-Galveston area.
The authors examine the Internal Revenue Service’s audit campaign strategy — in particular, the related-party transactions campaign — and what it means for mid-market taxpayers.
Public finance fellow Joyce Beebe discusses state and federal legislation aimed at granting states greater authority to collect sales taxes on remote online sales, as well as obstacles to those efforts.
The dramatic deterioration in state finances during the Great Recession raised concerns regarding government’s ability to support community health and education. In this study published in the National Tax Journal, the authors find that state revenue declines lead to short and long terms cuts in children’s Medicaid benefits, and declines in elderly Medicaid enrollment, and that larger cuts (nominal and proportional) in education spending versus Medicaid occurred.
On March 28, 2017, Energy Dialogues organized an event co-hosted with Shell at the Shell Woodcreek Campus in west Houston in which participants from across the oil and gas sector engaged in discussions that centered on three themes: economy, environment, and coalition-building. This report summarizes the day's discussions.
To gain public support for Mexico’s energy reforms, the government promised a future of low gas prices. The author documents the fallout when gas prices instead shot up 20 percent.
