The Value of Being First: Climate Policy Perspectives from California and Sweden
When it comes to climate policy, it seems like pessimism is the only thing that rivals greenhouse gas emissions in terms of volume. Last week, the daily atmospheric content of CO2 popped up over 400 parts per million, pushing the stated goal of keeping worldwide temperatures to a 2˚C increase even further from reach.
Beneath this gloomy surface, however, lies a golden sheen of real policy actions that are paving the way for future action to address the challenges of climate change. California and Sweden are two global trailblazers that are currently implementing robust and aggressive policies to reduce emissions and encourage innovative changes in how their national economies and governments operate. Last Tuesday, Resources for the Future, with Sweden’s Mistra Indigo and the ClimateWorks Foundation, put on a summit showcasing these two first movers in the climate policy world.
The Economics of Shame: A New RFF Press Book
Here’s a shameless plug for a new RFF Press book about naming and shaming polluters. 
OK, the title, “Environmental Regulation and Public Disclosure: The Case of PROPER in Indonesia” is admittedly a bit owlish. But I think many will be quite interested in the contents—an in-depth case study of an innovative pollution control program in a poor country has made a real difference.
My coauthors, Shakeb Afsah, Jorge García, and Thomas Sterner, and I have been involved in the design, implementation, and evaluation of PROPER for more than 15 years. We decided to pull together and flesh out what we have learned about the program because we believe that, having succeeded where many others have failed, it can and should serve as a model for other developing countries.
Environmental management in poor countries is quite challenging: severe pollution problems abound, regulatory institutions tend to be weak, and politicians get more mileage from promoting poverty reduction than pollution control. As a result, conventional command-and-control regulation often performs poorly.
PROPER has managed to sidestep some of these constraints by relying on public disclosure instead of enforcing regulatory mandates. It ranks thousands of companies’ environmental performance using a five-color grading scale—Gold for excellent, Green for very good, Blue for good, Red for non-compliance, and Black for causing environmental damage—and then disseminates these rankings via the press and internet, thereby creating incentives for polluters to cut their emissions.
Our book is a multidisciplinary wideranging exploration of the program. We present rigorous statistical analyses showing that it has helped raise the average rate of compliance with environmental regulations from thirty to seventy per cent, and identifying the specific incentives that are responsible for this improvement. We also provide a comprehensive history of the origins and evolution of program and detailed explanations of the methods and procedures on which it relies.
Try it, we think you’ll like it.
Resources Magazine: Ensuring Competitiveness under a US Carbon Tax
Tax exemptions, industry rebates, and border tax adjustments can help protect the competitiveness of industries affected by a carbon tax, but they are not equally efficient at achieving economic and environmental goals. In the latest issue of Resources, Richard Morgenstern, Nathan Richardson, and I examine the issues. Read more here.
This Week in the RFF Library Blog
Each week, we review the papers, studies, reports, and briefings posted at the “indispensable” RFF Library Blog, curated by RFF Librarian Chris Clotworthy. Check out this week’s highlights below:
Options in Recycling Revenues Generated through Carbon Pricing
…A new report out recently from the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) provides a detailed look at the current revenue recycling practices around the world [from either the auction of emission allowances or the taxation of carbon emission]. — via International Council on Mining and Metals
MATCH: Metadata Access Tool for Climate and Health
The Obama Administration this week introduced an online tool to improve research into the link between climate change and human health and promote innovative responses to future threats. As climate change triggers more extreme weather events and temperature shifts, it is becoming increasingly important to determine how these changes will affect respiratory illnesses, infectious diseases, allergies, and other… — via United States Global Change Research Program
Superfund: EPA Should Take Steps to Improve Its Management of Alternatives to Placing Sites on the National Priorities List
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) most commonly addresses the cleanup of sites it has identified as eligible for the National Priorities List (NPL) by deferring oversight of the cleanup to approaches outside of the Superfund program. As of December 2012, of the 3,402 sites EPA identified as potentially eligible, EPA has deferred oversight of 1,984 sites to approaches outside the Superfund program… — via Government Accountability Office
The Conservation Economy in America: Direct Investments and Economic Contributions
An April 2013 study by Southwick Associates, “The Conservation Economy in America: Direct investments and economic contributions” reports that conservation has measurable economic impacts. The study was produced for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to identify the level of impact that these activities have on the U.S. Economy and to serve as the basis for development of an assessment tool in determining the economic and job activity created by the NFWF’s… — via Southwick Associates for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
Green Economy and Trade: Trends, Challenges and Opportunities
…At the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) held in June 2012, governments agreed to the outcome document The Future We Want, which makes a commitment to help countries implement clear and practical measures for transitioning to green economies. This document affirms international trade as an engine for development and sustained economic growth… — via United Nations Environment Programme
For more from the RFF Library Blog, click here.
RFF on the Issues
Genetically Engineered Trees
American chestnut trees may be on the rise again due to a genetic engineering breakthrough that protects them from a debilitating fungus. If the transgenic chestnuts can be successfully integrated into woodland ecosystems, similar genetic engineering methods may be able to reestablish other trees.
In Resources magazine, RFF Associate Research Director and Fellow Juha Siikamäki discusses the potential for bioengineering to create a “blight-resistant American chestnut.” This was the topic of an RFF First Wednesday Seminar that featured a panel of experts involved in the Forest Health Initiative. Watch the video from the event to learn more.
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Video: The Promise and Limits of Ingenuity
On May 6, RFF and the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center co-hosted a seminar on the limits of innovation to solve ecological problems. Video from the event is now available.
This Week in the RFF Library Blog
Each week, we review the papers, studies, reports, and briefings posted at the “indispensable” RFF Library Blog, curated by RFF Librarian Chris Clotworthy. Check out this week’s highlights below:
Assessment of Undiscovered Oil Resources in the Bakken and Three Forks Formations
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) today released an updated oil and gas resource assessment for the Bakken Formation and a new assessment for the Three Forks Formation in North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana. The assessments found that the formations contain an estimated mean of 7.4 billion barrels (BBO) of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil. The updated assessment for the Bakken and Three Forks… — via US Geological Survey
Adaptation in Europe – Addressing Risks and Opportunities from Climate Change in the Context of Socio-economic Developments
This report provides policymakers across Europe, at different levels of governance and stages of policy formulation, with information that can be used to support adaptation planning and implementation. Specific parts of the report are therefore targeted at different audiences. — via European Environment Agency
South Africa Carbon Tax Policy Paper: Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Facilitating the Transition to a Green Economy
…This Carbon Tax Policy Paper updates the 2010 discussion paper “Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions: The Carbon Tax Option and takes into account the public comments received. It takes account of the principles in both the 2010 paper as well as the 2006 Environmental Fiscal Reform Policy Paper, which provides a policy context and foundation for the use of taxes and incentives to support the attainment of environmental objectives…. — via National Treasury, Republic of South Africa
Stress Relief: Prescriptions for a Healthier Delta Ecosystem
California is at a critical juncture on policy for the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta. This report summarizes the results of a wide-ranging study of cost-effective ways to improve the health of the Delta ecosystem. It highlights the need for science-based, integrated management of the many sources of ecosystem stress. The report also recommends improvements to the highly fragmented system of oversight that now involves dozens… — via Public Policy Institute of California
Hydraulic Fracturing and Water Stress: Growing Competitive Pressures for Water
A new Ceres research paper on water use in hydraulic fracturing operations shows that a significant portion of this activity is happening in water stressed regions of the United States, most prominently Texas and Colorado, which are both in the midst of prolonged drought conditions. It concludes that industry efforts underway, such as expanded use of recycled water and non-freshwater resources… — via Ceres
For more from the RFF Library Blog, click here.
Resources Magazine: The Limits to Ingenuity
When is ingenuity likely to help solve ecological problems? Is humanity’s ability to innovate its way around environmental problems relevant to how we think about conservation? I tackle these questions and contemplate the limits to ingenuity in a piece for the latest issue of Resources. Read the full article here.
RFF on the Issues
Special Event: In the past, innovation has been able to address natural resource limits. However, RFF’s Center for the Management of Ecological Wealth asks “Are there substitutes for wilderness, wildness, and natural beauty? Can we substitute our way out of ecological problems? Are there limits to ingenuity?” Register online to attend “The Promise and Limits of Ingenuity” on May 6 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. EDT at RFF.
Carbon Tax Effects
Last week the Senate Finance Committee introduced the idea of a carbon tax in a list of “prominent tax reform options.” Many have noted that such a tax could negatively impact the poor, and the Committee has said that it would be a challenge to maintain the progressivity of the tax.
RFF’s Daniel Morris and Clayton Munnings analyzed over 20 years of economic research to explain the distributional consequences of a carbon tax. They note that lower-income households could be compensated for increases in electricity and gas prices resulting from a carbon tax through direct rebates or targeted tax swaps, and maintain that “when accounting for how households anticipate spending over time . . . a carbon tax begins to appear more progressive than previously suggested.”
New RFF Publications
A regular listing of the newest RFF discussion papers, issue briefs, and reports.
- Progressing to a Fair Carbon Tax: Policy Design Options and Impacts to Households | Daniel F. Morris and Clayton Munnings | RFF Issue Brief 13-03
- A Retrospective Review of Shale Gas Development in the United States: What Led to the Boom? | Zhongmin Wang and Alan J. Krupnick | RFF Discussion Paper 13-12
- Comparative Life Cycle Assessments: Carbon Neutrality and Wood Biomass Energy | Roger A. Sedjo | RFF Discussion Paper 13-11
- Mercury and Air Toxics Standards Analysis Deconstructed: Changing Assumptions, Changing Results | Blair Beasley, Matthew Woerman, Anthony Paul, Dallas Burtraw, and Karen L. Palmer | RFF Discussion Paper 13-10
- Mixing It Up: Power Sector Energy and Regional and Regulatory Climate Policies in the Presence of a Carbon Tax | Dallas Burtraw and Karen Palmer | RFF Discussion Paper 13-09
- Linking by Degrees: Incremental Alignment of Cap-and-Trade Markets | Dallas Burtraw, Karen L. Palmer, Clayton Munnings, Paige Weber, and Matthew Woerman | RFF Discussion Paper 13-04
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