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Political Science *

Below are links to databases and scholarly web sites that support the study of political science and its related sub-disciplines.

Energy Policy Research Resources

Below are links to databases and electronic resources that support the study of energy policy and related areas of research.

MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Databases that offer multidisciplinary coverage of energy policy literature from scholarly and non-scholarly sources.

  • CQ Researcher --   in-depth, unbiased coverage of health, social trends, criminal justice, international affairs, education, the environment, technology, and the economy. Reports are published weekly 44 times a year.
  • Google Scholar -- the scholarly part of the Google empire. To set up Google Scholar with access to full-text journals and databases, go here.
  • JSTOR -- a multidisciplinary archive of scholarly journal articles covering most major disciplines in the social sciences and humanities. Useful for identifying historical research on a topic.
  • Policy Commons -- platform for objective, fact-based research from the world’s leading policy experts, nonpartisan think tanks, and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations. The database provides advanced searching across millions of pages of books, articles, working papers, reports, policy briefs, data sets, tables, charts, media, case studies, and statistical publications, including archived reports from more than 200 defunct think tanks.
  • ProQuest -- comprehensive, multidisciplinary database of newspaper, magazine, and scholarly journal articles updated daily. Content is more focused and manageable than Google Scholar.

SPECIALIZED RESEARCH RESOURCES

Key Databases

  • Energy Citations Database -- contains records for energy and energy-related scientific and technical information from the Department of Energy (DOE) and its predecessor agencies. The database provides access to DOE publicly available citations from 1948 through the present and includes research published in research reports, conference papers, journal articles, books, and dissertations.
  • GREENR: Global Reference on the Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources -- focuses on the physical, social, and economic aspects of environmental issues. Topic, organization, and country portals form research centers around issues covering energy systems, health care, agriculture, climate change, population, and economic development. Portals include authoritative analysis, academic journals, news, case studies, legislation, conference proceedings, primary source documents, statistics, and multimedia.
  • Water Resources Abstracts -- provides summaries from 1967 to the present of the world's technical, scientific, and public policy literature on water-related topics covering the characteristics, conservation, control, pollution, treatment, use and management of water resources as well as the legal aspects of water supply, use, control, or management. Good place for locating research on hydroelectric energy, hydroelectricity, and related topics.

Related Research Resources

  • Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy [DSIRE] -- a comprehensive source of information on incentives and policies that support renewable energy and energy efficiency in the United States. Established in 1995, DSIRE is operated by the N.C. Clean Energy Technology Center at North Carolina State University. Follow the navigation to access the database in various formats, publications and presentations prepared by DSIRE staff, detailed summary maps, energy-related resources maintained by the federal government, and other information on renewable energy.
  • Engineering Village -- a platform that enables in-depth searching of both current, archival, and interdisciplinary content comprising research in the applied engineering and physical science domains, including energy and natural resource extraction research published in journals, conference proceedings, trade publications, dissertations, books, and technical reports.
  • Environment Index -- provides access to articles from domestic and international journals, books and conference papers covering applicable areas of agriculture, ecosystem ecology, energy, natural resources, marine and freshwater science, geography, pollution and waste management, environmental technology, environmental law, public policy, social impacts, urban planning, and more.
  • Global Registry of Fossil Fuels – a new, open source repository of data on oil, gas and coal production and reserves worldwide, expressed in terms of its embedded carbon dioxide emissions and obtained from government and private-sector sources. The Registry contains data for over 50,000 fields in 89 countries representing projects covering 75% of global production and includes life-cycle emissions from fossil fuel projects for both carbon dioxide and methane. The database also ranks countries based on absolute emissions and emissions intensities.
  • HeinOnline Law Journal Library -- full text access to digitized content of more than 2,600 law and law-related periodicals that cover criminal justice, political science, technology, human rights, and more. Coverage for all journals is from first issue and volume through the current issue or volume for most titles.
  • National Database of Community and Renewable Energy Organizations -- compiled by the Clean Energy States Alliance, this database describes over 400 community-oriented organizations with a focus on or interest in clean energy at the local level, especially for low-income and disadvantaged communities. The database especially emphasizes groups that seek to advance solar energy and environmental justice. Information about these organizations is available here in list form. The list is easily sortable by city or state to quickly identify the organizations in a particular area. The information in this database is also available in a visual map.
  • OnePetro -- provides access to a broad range of technical literature related to the oil and gas exploration and production industry derived from different professional societies, or similar organizations, that serve the oil and gas industry. NOTE: Domain address validation will now occur on OnePetro within each user's My OnePetro account. The steps to domain address validate are as follows: Click on Register and complete a very short form to build your own My OnePetro account. Once done, click on My Account and then click on the Go button under Domain Validation. You will be asked to click on a button that says Validate Me. Once validated, access will be granted for 90 days.
  • Pollution Abstracts -- Offers coverage on scientific research and government policies for air pollution, marine pollution, freshwater pollution, sewage and wastewater treatment, waste management and land pollution. Good resources of research about the effects of pollution on people and animals resulting from energy production, mining, and other global extraction activities.

GROUP PERSPECTIVE

Databases that offer the opportunity to understand and contemplate the implications of policy decisions through the eyes of those who may be most impacted by those decisions.

  • Ethnic NewsWatch -- includes current and archival coverage of full-text newspapers, magazines, and journals from ethnic and minority presses. Very important database for gaining a perspective and an understanding of civic engagement from underrepresented groups and minorities.

DATA AND STATISTICS

  • California Energy Commission Energy Almanac -- provides current and historical energy-related data on all forms of energy supply, demand, efficiency and conservation, transportation, and related subjects.
  • Clean Power Alliance -- the non-profit default electricity provider for Los Angeles County and Ventura County and thirty cities throughout Southern California. Site includes budget and finance data and policy documents from 2017 to the present.
  • Energy Data Sources -- a collection created at Duke University of energy data sources and tools for data analysis supported in part by the National Science Foundation. Sources can be filtered by dataset topic or dataset type covering a wide variety of energy sources at global, national, state, and local levels.
  • Energy Information Administration – federal agency that collects, analyzes, and disseminates independent and impartial energy information to promote sound policy making, efficient markets, and public understanding of energy and its interaction with the economy and the environment.
  • National Minerals Information Center -- this site is provided by the U.S. Geological Society and contains statistics and information on the worldwide supply of, demand for, and flow of minerals and materials essential to the U.S. economy, the national security, and protection of the environment. Site includes statistical data on production, distribution, stocks, and consumption of significant mineral commodities and materials flow, recycling, supply chain, and sustainability publications that describe the distribution of materials from source to ultimate disposition.

Descriptions of resources are adapted or quoted from vendor websites.

Government Agencies

FEDERAL

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

LOS ANGELES COUNTY AND CITY

Organizations

Below is a select list of national and state energy advocacy and professional organizations. To locate descriptions of additional organizations, special interest groups, and research centers, search the Gale Directory Library database.

NATIONAL ADVOCACY ORGANIZATIONS

  • American Clean Power -- an advocacy organization that of companies from across the clean power sector with a mission of promoting clean power and providing cost-effective solutions to the climate crisis while creating jobs, spurring investment in the U.S. economy, and driving high-tech innovation across the nation.
  • American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy --  a non-profit that works toward harnessing the full potential of energy efficiency to achieve greater economic prosperity, energy security, and environmental protection in the United States. The site offers portals with industry specific energy efficiency information, research publications and consumer resources on energy efficiency.
  • American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) -- founded in 2001, this is a national nonprofit organization that unites finance, policy, and technology to accelerate the transition to a renewable energy economy. ACORE accomplishes much of its work by convening key stakeholders, facilitating partnerships, educating senior officials on important policies, publishing research and analysis on pressing issues, and undertaking strategic outreach on the policies and financial structures essential to renewable energy growth.
  • American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers -- a professional association for mining and metallurgy, with over 145,000 members founded in 1871.
  • American Association of Blacks in Energy -- the purpose of this organization is to serve as a resource for policy discussion of the economic, social and political impact of energy policies, regulations, emerging technologies, and environmental issues on African Americans and other minorities and to ensure involvement of African Americans in governmental energy policy making by recommending capable sensitive and informed personnel to appropriate officials.
  • Center for Sustainable Energy (CSE) -- a national nonprofit with a goal of transforming markets for clean transportation and distributed energy through software-enabled program design and administration that builds a future with sustainable, equitable and resilient transportation, buildings, and communities. CSE offers large-scale market transformation services, including rebate and incentive program design and administration, end-user engagement campaigns, policy guidance, and other consulting services.
  • Clean Energy States Alliance (CESA) -- a bipartisan U.S. coalition of state energy organizations working together to advance the expansion of clean energy technologies with the goal of ensuring that state-led efforts advance a just transition to one hundred percent clean energy by 2050.
  • OurEnergyPolicy -- a non-profit organization that facilitates non-partisan dialogue between energy experts from every sector to "sharpen distinctions, identify points of consensus, and stimulate innovative solutions in our energy policy." The OurEnergyLibrary page aggregates publicly available fact sheets, journal articles, reports, studies, and other publications on U.S. energy topics.
  • Renewable Fuels Association -- the ethanol industry trade association that works to "drive expanded demand for American-made renewable fuels and bio-products worldwide." Their website contains resources on markets and statistics, an annual industry outlook, fact sheets for consumers, retailers, and producers, and relevant policies.
  • Resources for the Future (RFF) -- an independent, nonprofit research institution. Their scholars and partnering researchers publish journal articles, reports, briefs and explainers on environmental and resource economics topics. They also support data tools such as the carbon pricing calculator, and carbon pricing bill tracker.

STATE AND LOCAL ADVOCACY ORGANIZATIONS

  • Association of California Water Agencies -- statewide coalition of more than 460 public water agencies in California that are collectively responsible for 90% of the water delivered to cities, farms, and businesses in the state. ACWA serves the water industry and the public by promoting local agencies as the most efficient means of providing water service; sharing reliable scientific and technical information; tracking and shaping state and federal water policy; advocating for sound legislation and regulation; and, facilitating cooperation and consensus among all interest groups.
  • Greenlining Institute -- an advocacy organization committed to building a just economy by addressing the root causes of racial, economic, and environmental inequities in order to meaningfully transform the material conditions of communities of color in California and across the country. The organization provides benefits to under-served communities, from jobs in clean energy industries to protection for low-income Californians against unfair utility shut-offs.
  • Southern California Regional Energy Network -- authorized in 2012 by the California Public Utilities Commission, SoCalREN designs and implements programs that help reduce energy use in homes, businesses, and public facilities throughout the region, such as, helping a multifamily property owner make improvements to tenant units, guiding cities through the process of upgrading street lighting, and increasing energy efficiency and safety.
  • Valley Clean Air Now (Valley CAN) -- a public charity committed to reducing air emissions in California’s San Joaquin Valley. The mission is to improve public health and quality of life in disadvantaged communities by qualifying low-income residents for multiple incentive-based programs focused on vehicle repair and replacement programs, which aim to reduce air pollution, address climate issues, and reduce transportation costs.

Descriptions of resources are adapted or quoted from vendor websites.