The world's best thinkers on energy and climate
There are two fundamental, and fundamentally different, barriers to pricing greenhouse gases. The one economists tend to focus on is the economy-wide cost of reducing emissions: substituting to lower-carbon and (for now) higher cost production of energy and other products. That is, the hit to the size of the economic pie. … [Read more...]
As eager as President Trump seemed to be to denounce and bolt from the Paris Agreement, he also appeared eager to project a willingness to re-engage. Three times in his speech yesterday in the Rose Garden, he declared an openness to renegotiating the landmark climate agreement or negotiating a new deal “that’s fair.” … [Read more...]
Activities that cause emissions are ubiquitous, diverse and deeply embedded in modern life. The world’s energy system is huge and long-lived. This makes emissions tough to deal with. … [Read more...]
Describing himself as an “energy optimist” and a “climate realist,” former U.S. Congressman Bob Inglis (R-SC, pictured) told an MIT audience on Tuesday, April 25, that solutions to address climate change are within reach, but that support from conservatives will be indispensable to moving them forward. “If there is going to be action, it is essential that conservatives join this,” said Inglis, the founder of RepublicEn and one of the country’s … [Read more...]
With a single executive order issued at the end of March, the Trump administration launched a robust effort to roll back Obama-era climate policies designed to reduce U.S. carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Chief among those policies is the Clean Power Plan, which targets coal and natural gas-fired electric power plants that account for about 40 percent of the nation’s CO2 emissions. … [Read more...]
During the 2016 Republican presidential primaries, a common theme among the candidates was that the U.S. needed to scale back efforts to combat climate change because one country can’t go it alone. The candidates’ thoughts were that other countries were still polluting, so why should the U.S. “destroy our economy” to address climate change? … [Read more...]
Last week the California Air Resources Board unanimously voted to finalize new regulations to reduce oil and gas methane emissions. This is the first major environmental regulation that has been issued since the new Administration took office, and sends a clear message that states aren’t going to take the new administrations attacks on the environment lying down. … [Read more...]
Achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement requires not only commitments by governments, but also innovation and action by the private sector. “This room is full of non-state actors,” remarked Patricia Espinosa, UNFCCC Executive Secretary, while addressing the audience at the Climate Leadership Conference in Chicago this month. Espinosa along with a panel of experts encouraged members of the private sector to not only continue these crucial … [Read more...]
Economists have long complained about Fuel Efficiency standards. Are we happy now? The past 50 days felt like the beginning of a game of environmental policy Jenga. The new administration is starting to pull pegs from the tower of environmental and energy regulations slowly built up over the past 50 years. Whether this tower will crumble is a legal question, which I am not qualified to comment on, so I’ll stick to economics. Maybe the … [Read more...]
When you listen closely to debates over California climate change policy, it becomes clear that the disagreements are along two dimensions: what is the best approach to meeting the state’s goals and what exactly are those goals. I think the differences are increasingly about different goals, rather than about different methods of achieving those goals. Setting aside those who think climate change isn’t happening, isn’t man-made, or just … [Read more...]
The recent vote in the European Parliament and continuing discussions in Council make it clear that the EUETS is likely to remain weak for many years. In this context, other climate change policies in Europe will need to be strengthened if Europe is to make a smooth and successful transition to a prosperous low carbon economy. The EUETS looks likely to continue with low prices and a large surplus for at least the next 10 years, and probably … [Read more...]
As he settles into his final two years as California’s longest-serving Governor, Jerry Brown has limited time to finalize his energy and climate policy legacy. Meanwhile, with a new crop of state legislators and two new appointees at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), California has a fresh set of actors who will be actively questioning the way things are — and the way things should be. While there are a lot of economic sectors … [Read more...]
The late California historian Kevin Starr once wrote, “California had long since become one of the prisms through which the American people, for better and for worse, could glimpse their future.” These words have never felt truer. Just ask Gov. Jerry Brown or the leaders of the state legislature, who are all issuing various calls to action to protect and further the state’s leading climate and energy policies. California is the sixth largest … [Read more...]
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