Energy Efficiency Resource Standards: Economics and Policy

Twenty states in the United States have adopted energy efficiency resource standards (EERS) that specify absolute or per¬centage reductions in energy use relative to business as usual. We examine how an EERS compares to policies oriented to meeting objectives, such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions, cor¬recting for consumer error in energy efficiency investment, or reducing peak de¬mand absent real-time prices. If reducing energy use is a policy goal, one could use energy taxes or cap-and-trade systems rather than an EERS. An EERS can be optimal under special conditions, but to achieve optimal goals following energy efficiency investments, the marginal external harm must fall with greater energy use. This could happen if inframarginal energy has greater negative externalities, particularly regarding emissions, than energy employed at the margin.energy efficiency resource standards, energy efficiency, electricity, conservation

Strange Loops: Apparent versus Actual Human Involvement in Automated Decision-Making

The era of AI-based decision-making fast approaches, and anxiety is mounting about when, and why, we should keep “humans in the loop” (“HITL”). Thus far, commentary has focused primarily on two questions: whether, and when, keeping humans involved will improve the results of decision-making (making them safer or more accurate), and whether, and when, non-accuracy-related values—legitimacy, dignity, and so forth—are vindicated by the inclusion of humans in decision-making. Here, we take up a related but distinct question, which has eluded the scholarship thus far: does it matter if humans appear to be in the loop of decision-making, independent from whether they actually are? In other words, what is stake in the disjunction between whether humans in fact have ultimate authority over decision-making versus whether humans merely seem, from the outside, to have such authority? Our argument proceeds in four parts. First, we build our formal model, enriching the HITL question to include not only whether humans are actually in the loop of decision-making, but also whether they appear to be so. Second, we describe situations in which the actuality and appearance of HITL align: those that seem to involve human judgment and actually do, and those that seem automated and actually are. Third, we explore instances of misalignment: situations in which systems that seem to involve human judgment actually do not, and situations in which systems that hold themselves out as automated actually rely on humans operating “behind the curtain.” Fourth, we examine the normative issues that result from HITL misalignment, arguing that it challenges individual decision-making about automated systems and complicates collective governance of automation

Murderous Mothers & Gentle Judges: Paternalism,Patriarchy, and Infanticide

This article provides a first critical study of Irish judicial approaches to sentencing women convicted under the Infanticide Act 1949. Through an analysis of archival material, it will be shown that women convicted of infanticide, a homicide offence carrying a maximum of life imprisonment, were given exceptionally lenient sentences, with very few of these offenders being imprisoned following conviction. In the wider context of harsh and restrictive attitudes to female sexuality, and particularly to unmarried mothers, the obvious question that arises when considering sentencing of Irish infanticide offenders, such as Anne, is why women who killed their babies received consistently lenient treatment at the hands of the courts

Social Norms and the Law in responding to Infanticide

During the early and middle decades of the twentieth century, a number of jurisdictions introduced specific laws to deal with the crime of infanticide, following the English approach to this offence which allowed for a reduced conviction and flexible sentence in cases where women killed their babies aged under 12 months whilst in a mentally disturbed state. Taking the Irish experience, this paper explores the role of social norms in the criminal justice response to infanticide. It is argued that, irrespective of the existing legal framework in place, implicit shared social norms about the ‘appropriate’ outcome in cases where women killed their babies played a crucial part in how this crime has been dealt with by the courts. The criminal justice response will be assessed against shifting legal and social environments, in particular, the enactment of a specific Infanticide Act in 1949, and Ireland's transition from a conservative to a liberal society during the last decades of the twentieth century. In particular, the role of social norms in the interpretation of the medical rationale for this law is explored, and the impact of Ireland's social and cultural liberalisation on the criminal justice response to infanticide is examined

Implementing Electricity Restructuring: Policies, Potholes, and Prospects

Electricity is one of the last U.S. industries in which competition is replacing regulation. We briefly review the technology for producing and delivering power, the history of electricity policy, and recent state and international experience. We then outline the major questions facing policymakers as they decide whether, when, and how to implement restructuring. We conclude with some thoughts on the California electricity crisis and other political controversies. Although the California experience has come to define what it means for electricity markets to fail, most of the problems it raised are among those we know how to solve or prevent. The still unresolved make-or-break issue remains whether the cooperation necessary to maintain reliability is compatible with the degree of competition necessary to bring about greater efficiency and lower prices. This paper draws upon our forthcoming book, Alternating Curents: Electricity Markets and Public Policy.electricity restructuring, regulation, deregulation

Putting a Floor on Energy Savings: Comparing State Energy Efficiency Resource Standards

Energy efficiency resource standards (EERS) refer to policies that require utilities and other covered entities to achieve quantitative goals for reducing energy use by a certain year. EERS policies generally apply to electricity and natural gas sales and electricity peak demand, though they also cover other energy sources in Europe. Our study aggregates information about the requirements of existing EERS policies for electricity sales in the United States. We convert quantitative goals into comparable terms to compare the nominal stringency of EERS programs across states. EERS programs also differ in their nonquantitative requirements, including flexibility measures, measurement and verification programs, and penalties and positive incentives. We compare the U.S. policies to similar policies in the European Union and discuss important policy issues, including exogenous changes in fuel prices and issues with utility management of energy efficiency programs.energy efficiency, electricity, energy efficiency resource standards, state regulation

Stories from the scratch community: connecting with ideas, interests, and people

This special session aims to provoke discussion about new strategies for engaging young people in computer programming, drawing on experiences of educators and young people using the Scratch programming environment and online communities. The session will combine several different formats, including research presentations and analysis by two members of the team that develops and supports Scratch, short presentations and demonstrations by five educators and young people working with Scratch, and discussions among audience participants.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant 1019396)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant 1002713)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant 1027848)John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur FoundationGoogle (Firm

Reflections on Criminalising Obstetric Violence: A Feminist Perspective

This chapter considers the role of the criminal law in responding to obstetric violence. The question that arises for consideration is whether the criminal law is an appropriate mechanism for holding medics to account when they cause harm to women at childbirth. In this regard a number of questions arise. First, stemming from the understanding of obstetric violence in a non-criminal context, what kinds of violence and harm are relevant for the purposes of criminalisation? Second, to what extent does our existing law capture ‘obstetric violence’? Third, should the law be expanded, and, in particular, should there be a specific offence of ‘obstetric violence’? Regarding the last question, the chapter explores the potential advantages and disadvantages of criminalisation, and considers the purpose of criminalising such conduct/harm. These questions are considered through the lens of vulnerability, which will particularly (but not exclusively) focus on the vulnerability of pregnant women/women in childbirth. This chapter employs a gendered framework whereby the unique position of women in childbirth is highlighted. The impact of wider gender norms, particularly with respect to expectations regarding motherhood, is a relevant factor in this analysis

Issues of structure and agency in computational creation, in and out of school

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, February 2013.This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis. "February 2013."Includes bibliographical references (p. 209-219).We live in a computational culture - a culture in which we are surrounded by computational systems and interfaces, from social networks to banking infrastructure, to entertainment platforms, to transportation systems. This culture introduces new expectations and new opportunities for learning, creating new demands for what to learn and offering new possibilities for how to learn. In this dissertation, I adopt a predominantly qualitative approach to exploring learning in computational culture, studying how the Scratch programming environment and online community are employed to support learning both in and out of school. To this end, I conducted interviews with 30 kids working with Scratch at home and 30 teachers working with Scratch in K-12 classrooms to develop descriptions of computational creation in these two settings. Using a theoretical framework of agency and structure, I analyze how the at-home and school-classroom contexts enable - or constrain - young people's agency in computational creation. Despite common assumptions that at-home learning is necessarily low-structure/high-agency and that at-school learning is necessarily high-structure/low-agency, I argue that structure and agency need not be in opposition. Designers of learning environments should explore intermediate possibilities, finding ways to employ structure in the service of learner agency.by Karen A. Brennan.Ph.D