Developing Zero-Emission Bus and Truck Markets Will Require a Mix of Financial Incentives, Sale Mandates, and Demonstration Projects

California has a number of programs intended to encourage the introduction of zero- and near-zero emission vehicle (ZEV) technologies into the medium- and heavy-duty truck markets. Meeting the goals of these programs will require the sale of large numbers of battery-electric and hydrogen fuel cell transit buses and trucks by 2025 and beyond. However, several barriers to widespread adoption of these technologies will need to be addressed, including their purchase price, utility, durability and reliability, as well as the cost of energy and the availability of refueling infrastructure. Policies such as mandates or incentives will likely be necessary to overcome these barriers and the uncertainty of adopting a new, unproven technology. These policies must make economic sense to both the bus and truck manufacturers and the vehicle purchasers if they are to be successful in the long term. To gain a better understanding of the financial barriers for ZEV bus and truck adoption, researchers at UC Davis conducted technology and cost assessments for batteryelectric and fuel cell vehicles in the medium- and heavy-duty truck sector. High-level findings and the policy implications of this research are summarized in this brief

Zero-Emission Medium- and Heavy-duty Truck Technology, Markets, and Policy Assessments for California

This report assesses zero emissions medium- and heavy-duty vehicle technologies, their associated costs, projected market share, and possible policy mandates and incentives to support their adoption. Cost comparisons indicate that battery-electric transit buses and city delivery trucks are the most economically attractive of the zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) based on their break-even mileage being a small fraction of the expected total mileage. These ZEVs using fuel cells are also attractive for a hydrogen cost of $5/kg. The most economically unattractive vehicle types for ZEV adoption are long-haul trucks and inter-city buses. Developing mandates for buses and trucks will be more difficult than for passenger cars for several reasons, including the large differences in the size and cost of the vehicles and the ways they are used in commercial, profit-oriented fleets. The best approach will be to develop separate mandates for classes of vehicles that have similar sizes, cost characteristics, use patterns, and ownership/business models. These mandates should be coupled to incentives that vary by vehicle type/class and by year or accumulated sales volume, to account for the effects of expected price reductions with time

Income shocks and HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa:

Poverty is commonly cited as a key driver of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, yet little causal evidence exists linking economic conditions to actual disease outcomes. Using data on more than 200,000 individuals across 19 Sub-Saharan African countries, we present evidence that negative income shocks can lead to substantial increases in HIV prevalence, particularly for women in rural areas. Building on recent work showing that income shortfalls can induce some women to engage in higher-risk sex, we match data on individuals' HIV status from the Demographic and Health Surveys to data on recent variation in local rainfall, a primary (and exogenous) source of variation in income for rural households in Africa. We find that infection rates for women (men) in HIV-endemic rural areas increase significantly by 14 percent (11 percent) for every drought event experienced in the previous 10 years. Further analysis suggests that women most affected by the shocks (that is, those engaged in agriculture) are driving the women's results; these women are partnering with men least affected (those employed outside agriculture). Our findings suggest a role for formal insurance and social safety nets in tackling the HIV/AIDS epidemic.HIV/AIDS, Income shocks,

Book Review: Simple Justice: The History of Brown v. Board of Education and Black America’s Struggle for Equality

Of the attorneys and teachers mentioned in this book, Charles Hamilton Houston brings the vaguest flickers of recognition to white lawyers. Yet he was the first, and among the most gifted, of the extraordinary group who guided the litigation leading to Brown v. Board of Education and its enormous progeny of case law

A Comment on the Nondiscrimination Principle in a “Nation of Minorities”

The last time I was asked to comment on changes in race law since Brown was in 1983 at the Legal Defense Fund\u27s annual celebration of the Brown decision

Book Review: Unlikely Heroes

The subject matter of Jack Bass\u27s Unlikely Heroes is the impact of Brown II on the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

Book Review: The Tolerant Society: Freedom of Speech and Extremist Speech in America

To give this ambitious book the serious consideration it clearly deserves involves three tasks. One is to evaluate the quality of Bollinger\u27s dissection of the theories of Milton, Mill, and their successors. The second is to ask whether, and how, Bollinger\u27s general theory of tolerance strengthens those theories, unifies them, and extends their compass. The third is to attempt to fit his accomplishment into what is going on in American legal practice, and in academic discussion, both of which are little concerned with the classic paradox of protecting extremist speech, the centerpiece of the Bollinger structure