Common Resources

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 […]

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.

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. […]

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.

China’s Carbon Tax Plan

Xinhua reported recently that China will introduce a carbon tax. The actual announcement by Jia Chen from the Ministry of Finance buried the mention of the new carbon tax within a broader set of tax reform goals. Other reforms mentioned included the use of taxes to promote innovation and the development of small- and medium-sized businesses. This is […]

Paying Ecuador to Protect the Rainforest

A recent episode of NPR’s Planet Money discussed Ecuador’s proposed solution to a national dilemma: the fact that a massive oil discovery and a national park happen to be in the same place. Ecuador’s proposal is to forswear drilling - but only if other countries donate half the value of the oil in aid (about $3.6 […]

RFF Feature: The Past, Present, and Future of Carbon Markets

New research explores lessons learned to date from carbon markets around the world and presents new issues to be examined in the future, such as the linking of existing markets. Click here to read the feature in its entirety.

Would Coal Exports Reduce Emissions?

Persistent low natural gas prices and, to some extent, EPA regulation are driving fuel switching from coal to gas in the electric power sector, reducing domestic demand for U.S. coal. The U.S. already exports a lot of coal, but the trend toward gas has led some firms to more aggressively pursue export markets. Increasing exports, […]

Doha in Context: A Brief History of Climate Negotiations

The 18th round of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations concluded last month in Doha. Expectations were low, but reviews have still been mixed. But for those who aren’t insiders, understanding the talks – much less identifying success or failure – is very hard because of the complexity that’s accumulated over the […]

Doha Dysfunction

You are probably used to hearing about how dysfunctional the COPs are, how much unnecessary brinksmanship they display, and how despite a couple weeks of long nights and frayed nerves, the delegates seem to come together and salvage some kind of agreement that may or may not be disappointing, but at least has some potential […]