Common Resources

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 [...]

US Shale Gas Development in Review

The United States has seen rapid recent development of shale gas. What are the factors behind the notable growth in the past decade? And what does it mean for shale gas development elsewhere in the world? Alan Krupnick and I examine the history of the US shale gas boom in a new RFF discussion paper. [...]

Mercury and Air Toxics Standards Analysis Deconstructed: Changing Assumptions, Changing Results

EPA regulations on mercury and other air pollutants currently under review are the subject of much debate for their potential costs and impacts on the electricity industry. In a new discussion paper, RFF colleagues and I examine the assumptions behind several studies that have analyzed the potential effects of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, [...]

Thinking Like an Economist within the Complex Climate Policy Regime

Building on recent work that highlights the need to account for institutions in crafting economic solutions to environmental problems, Matt Woerman and I look specifically to the implementation of climate policy—and how incentive-based thinking can help. Read more here.

EPA and Global Carbon: Can You Have it Both Ways?

This is the final post in a debate between RFF and Institute for Policy Integrity scholars over the best tools for EPA’s greenhouse gas regulations under the Clean Air Act. See Nathan Richardson’s critique of Policy Integrity’s recent petition to EPA and Policy Integrity’s response. This debate has been about where we disagree – we have real differences over [...]

EPA and Global Carbon: Hiding in Plain Sight

This is the third post in a debate between RFF and Institute for Policy Integrity scholars over the best tools for EPA’s greenhouse gas regulations under the Clean Air Act. See Nathan Richardson’s critique of Policy Integrity’s recent petition to EPA. As Nathan Richardson rightly notes, debate over the best legal tools to craft climate [...]

EPA and Global Carbon: Unnecessary Risk

This is the second post in a debate between RFF and Institute for Policy Integrity scholars over the best tools for EPA carbon regulation under the Clean Air Act. See the opening salvo from Jason Schwartz, and in particular Policy Integrity’s recent petition to the EPA. -ed Jason Schwartz and Michael Livermore at Policy Integrity are [...]

EPA and Global Carbon: A Debate

This is a guest post by legal scholar Jason Schwartz, of the Institute for Policy Integrity at NYU. It opens an exchange between Policy Integrity and RFF scholars discussing legal and policy aspects of greenhouse gas regulation under the Clean Air Act.  -ed In his 2013 State of the Union address, President Obama promised that [...]

Parsing the State of the Union

President Obama’s remarks on climate change on Tuesday were a mix of specificity and vagueness. It seems no two climate wonks interpret his State of the Union the same, leading to more questions than answers. The President linked specific trends—including high temperatures over the past 15 years and increased frequencies and intensities of heat waves, droughts, wildfires and floods—to [...]

U.S. Emissions Trends: Optimism, Pessimism, and One Big Decision

This week, the World Resources Institute released a report addressing U.S. progress on reducing GHG emissions to date, and the prospects for further progress without new legislation putting a price on carbon. The tone of the report is cautionary – it claims that ambitious “go-getter” policies are required to achieve the President’s Copenhagen target of [...]