Author Archives: Marc Steele

About Marc Steele

Marc is a Technical Policy Analyst with the Energy Policy Initiatives Center (EPIC), an academic and research center of the University of San Diego School of Law. His work focuses on developing greenhouse gas emissions inventories, assessing mitigation measures for local jurisdictions and the San Diego region, and advancing the integration of economic tools into climate planning.

The Rise of Reach Codes

Posted on August 16, 2021 by Marc Steele

Last week, the California Energy Commission (CEC) adopted energy efficiency standards to be included in the 2022 state building standards (Title 24, Part 6). The new energy code will further increase building energy efficiency and reduce emissions from California buildings … Continue reading →

Posted in climate planning, Energy, Energy Efficiency, GHGs, Renewable Energy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Cost of a CAP Part 6: Limitations

Posted on May 3, 2018 by Marc Steele

Part of understanding climate action plan (CAP) cost analyses results includes identifying what is not incorporated into the analyses. CAP implementation cost analyses (ICAs) and benefit-cost analyses (BCAs) described in earlier posts have inherent limitations that can create a level … Continue reading →

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The Cost of a CAP Part 5: The Cost (or Benefit) to Participate

Posted on April 26, 2018 by Marc Steele

How is this CAP going to impact my constituents? Jurisdictions who are in the process of adopting or updating their climate action plans (CAPs) are concerned with more just the budgetary impacts and overall cost-effectiveness of CAP measures. There is … Continue reading →

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The Cost of a CAP Part 4: Emissions Bang for Your Buck

Posted on April 19, 2018 by Marc Steele

Which measures should we include in our City’s CAP? Should we prioritize some over others? Which measures are, in terms of cost, the best for us to implement, while still achieving our GHG reduction goals? However jurisdiction staff phrase the … Continue reading →

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The Cost of a CAP Part 3: The Benefits and Costs of CAP Measures

Posted on April 11, 2018 by Marc Steele

What measures will get us the biggest emissions bang for our buck?  How much will these measures cost residents and businesses in our city? These are the two questions we hear most often. A climate action plan (CAP) benefit-cost analysis … Continue reading →

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The Cost of a CAP: Monetary impacts of local GHG reduction measures

Posted on March 28, 2018 by Marc Steele

More and more cities in California are developing Climate Action Plans (CAPs). During our climate action planning work with cities, we repeatedly hear questions from the public and city staff about costs. How much is this climate action plan going … Continue reading →

Posted in Greenhouse Gas, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments