March 17th, 2006

Nuclear power for India is good for us all, says PESD director David Victor

Victor's opinion piece supports, on environmental grounds, the recent deal to expand India's commercial nuclear program. He argues that country's carbon emissions will be lowered by allowing India to opt for nuclear power instead of coal. However, care is still needed to tame the risks of proliferation and also to fix the chronic financial troubles of India's electricity sector. Read more »

January 4th, 2006

David G. Victor's "Recovering Sustainable Development" published in Foreign Affairs

Sustainable development -- the notion that boosting economic growth, protecting natural resources, and ensuring social justice can be complementary goals -- has lost much appeal over the past two decades, the victim of woolly thinking and interest-group politics. The concept can be relevant again, but only if its original purpose -- helping the poor live healthier lives on their own terms -- is restored. Read more »

September 9th, 2005

Electricity-Market Reforms and Global Climate Change

For nearly two decades, most major developing countries have struggled to introduce market forces in their electric power systems. In every case, that effort has proceeded more slowly than reformers hoped and the outcomes have been hybrids that are far from the efficiency and organization of the "ideal" textbook model for a marketbased power system. Read more »

August 31st, 2004

Electricity reform in South Africa is at a critical juncture, says Anton Eberhard

Anton Eberhard writes that South Africa will experience routine electricity blackouts in a few years unless new electricity policy and investment decisions are formulated and implemented this year. Read more »

August 23rd, 2004

In op-ed, Victor and House advocate independent management of U.S. oil reserve

In an Aug. 22 op-ed published in the Los Angeles Times and an Aug. 25 commentary on Marketplace on NPR, CESP researchers David G. Victor and Joshua C. House argue that an independent panel should be given control of the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The power to buy and sell the stockpiled oil currently rests with the Department of Energy, which passes the decision on to the president, effectively politicizing oil supply decisions. Read more »

May 15th, 2003

The brewing trade battle over GM crops will cost America dear, say Victor and Runge

In an article appearing in The Financial Times, David Victor and C. Ford Runge argue that the pending WTO case over genetically modified foods will do the U.S. more harm than good. Read more »

February 19th, 2003

In Op-ed, Victor and Victor argue that nuclear energy should fuel U.S.-Russia relations

Since the fall of communism, the U.S. and Russia have been searching for areas for mutually beneficial cooperation. While oil has historically taken center stage, David and Nadejda Victor argue that diplomats should consider nuclear energy as well. Read more »

Even though the Bush Administration backed down from its trade dispute over GM food, the effects have been palpable

Having backed down from its trade dispute with the EU over GM food, the Bush administration will find it hard to make the threat of going to the trade organization credible again and to continue the momentum toward removing Europe's ban. Read more »