A new primerco-authored by researchers at Duke University's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions and the Great Plains Institute explains the workings of regional electricity markets and the effect of state policies on them, presenting illustrative examples of state policy-regional market interaction and summarizing six proposals for changing RTO market design. In a companion Q&A, authors discuss the phenomena renewing attention to RTO market design, the impulses behind some typical state energy policies, the ways that those policies can affect regional market outcomes, and two challenges of current proposals to better align states' energy goals and RTO market design.
THE FUTURE OF GROUNDWATER
A new report summarizes the Aspen-Nicholas Water Forum discussions earlier this year, offering various approaches to understanding the management opportunities and challenges that groundwater presents. A partnership between The Aspen Institute Energy and the Nicholas Institute, the forum focused on the present condition of groundwater, the evolution of that condition, and the transition to more sustainable uses of groundwater resources. The consensus was that groundwater needs to be sustainably developed, meaning groundwater use must address economic development, environmental health, and quality-of-life needs.
IMPROVING KNOWLEDGE ON SMALL-SCALE FISHERIES
Small-scale fisheries tend to be overlooked and marginalized in policy processes because their contributions to food security, nutrition, livelihoods, and local and national economies are not well understood. A Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nationsproceedings, co-authored by the Nicholas Institute's John Virdin and the Nicholas School of the Environment's Xavier Basurto, summarizes discussion and conclusions from the Workshop on Improving our Knowledge on Small-Scale Fisheries: Data Needs and Methodologies.
Ecosystem Services and National Forest Policy
In a webinar sponsored by the National Ecosystem Services Partnership at the Nicholas Institute, Robert Deal, Nikola Smith, and Jonas Epstein of the U.S. Forest Service discuss that agency's ongoing efforts to integrate ecosystem services into its policy and operations
