Hehe, if only. Though on a less interesting topic than marmots, here is draft 1 of my statement of purpose. My supervisor seems to think it's good, but I'd still appreciate any input you all have. (in the comments, so it doesn't usurp the entire blog) Now if I could somehow find a marmot conservancy group to do research for for a masters thesis, that would be the funniest thing ever. Hmm...
3 comments:
My goal is to pursue a master’s degree in public policy, gaining experience in policy analysis in general, and environmental policy in particular. My undergraduate studies at U.C. Berkeley, majoring in Economics, with a minor in Environmental Economics and Policy, provided me with a good foundation of analytical and technical skills. However, rather than pursuing an advanced degree in economics, I am interested in public policy as a tool to overcome market failures such as the overuse of common goods and environmental externalities, improving the availability of resources or the equity of their distribution.
In the four years since I completed my undergraduate degree, I have worked with research groups at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and U.C. Berkeley on various topics in resource economics and policy. In the summer between my junior and senior years of college, I began working with Michael Hanemann’s research group in the California Climate Change Center, analyzing the economic impacts of climate change on water and agriculture in California. This was my first research experience beyond the papers I wrote in school, and I found the complex nature of applied economic research engaging and fulfilling, consistently pushing me to learn new analytical techniques and expanding my knowledge of the history and politics of water in California.
A little over a year ago, I joined LBNL’s Energy Analysis group in the Environmental Energy and Technologies Division. I contribute to the economic analysis of appliance energy efficiency standards, estimating retail price and employment impacts of standards, in what our group head has called “the largest cost-benefit analysis in the country, if not the world.” Since their inception in 1988, federal appliance energy efficiency standards have saved approximately 8 quadrillion Btus of energy and $30 million in consumer energy costs, and I am proud to be a part of a research group that has had such a positive impact on U.S. energy policy.
At LBNL, I also regularly take on water research studies with the department’s resident economist, Larry Dale, who I have worked with since my time with the Climate Change Center. We recently assisted the California Energy Commission with background research for the prioritization of water and energy research areas, based on critical gaps in knowledge concerning the interconnection of water and energy in California and the environmental impacts of water and energy use. This will be used as a framework for allocating funding to important research on the interaction of water and energy in California. We also used this opportunity to study energy use in various parts of California’s water sector, from the electricity used to pump water through the major water projects’ canals to energy used to pressurize irrigation equipment to energy used to heat water in the home . What struck me the most from this research is the vast difference in the amounts of energy used in different segments of the water system and different regions of California. To me, this suggests that the effort to conserve energy and water will need to employ policies that are just as diverse, and that target both resources simultaneously, in order to be effective.
One specific issue of interest to me, suggested by my research on energy use in the California water system, and which I have not yet had time to explore in depth, is a comparison of the equity and effectiveness of various water and electricity conservation programs. I want to understand the circumstances in which an extensive conservation advertising campaign is more effective than the offer of a small rebate for savings or a price increase.
Much of the research that I do is forward-looking, predicting what will happen to the economy or a given entity based on an assumed future condition, and shaping policy choices based on these predictions. One project that I found particularly enlightening compared the predicted appliance price impacts of efficiency standards with retail price data before and after the standards came into effect, showing a trend toward overestimating the change in retail price . This project illustrated the importance, especially in a case like efficiency standards, which are updated on a regular basis, of examining the ex post results of past policies to verify and improve an analysis approach.
Our analysis of the impacts of energy efficiency standards include estimates of the aggregate national change in employment, which is generally predicted to be positive in the long run, but viewing the results in detail, some sectors will lose employment while others will gain. I realize that there is a limit to how much detail can reasonably be included in an analysis, but at the same time, I am becoming increasingly interested in such issues that are often glossed over as "beyond the scope of our study "or relegated to appendices of sensitivity analyses. Economic analysis can predict and track these impacts, but the final decision to implement a policy or not will be influenced by law, philosophy, and politics, which I have not yet thoroughly studied.
Although my focus is likely to be on environmental policy, I realize that a solid understanding of all policy issues is necessary because of the interconnectedness of the environment, the economy, and other aspects of society. A price increase to promote water savings may disproportionately burden the less affluent. A standard that increases the required efficiency of refrigerators may significantly decrease energy use across the nation while reducing employment in one region and increasing employment in another. I realize that without the knowledge to address effects like these, what broadly appears to be beneficial could in actuality cause serious harm. Regardless of my eventual area of focus, I believe that studying at Goldman School will be very useful to my career and to the development of my thought and analysis process. I am particularly interested in the water policy research conducted by the California Climate Change Center and the Center for Environmental Public Policy.
Through my work at LBNL, I have utilized and updated models of the employment impacts of efficiency standards, water and energy price impacts on crop choice, and carbon credit and alternate land use value on deforestation. While I realize that most models are a highly simplified version of reality, I found the process enjoyable and the results informative. Because of this, I am interested in the Decision Analysis, Modeling, and Quantitative Methods class series in first year to improve my skills and give me new ideas for modeling policy impacts.
After completing the master’s degree program, I plan to return to my current research group in Lawrence Berkeley National Lab’s Appliance Standards Group, where I will continue to conduct supporting research for the federal appliance efficiency standards, and take on various other water, energy, and environmental policy projects when time and opportunity allow. I believe that through courses, projects, and other experiences in the Goldman School of Public Policy, I will gain the experience, knowledge, and analytical tools to take on more advanced research within my group and to approach additional environmental policy research on my own.
You is a genius! Here's my essay:
I am edit video. Job moneys i need. I make computer machine moving pictures to secure the future of my food in belly time. give please! =D
phew!
Okay, I read you personal statement and have some questions / comments / edits. I'll try to type these up in some sort of legible format but can't help but feel that just visiting you guys and chatting about it would be best.
tell me what you'd like, okay?
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