Common Resources

From Resources Magazine: Why Fuel Taxes aren’t Always Regressive

The current issue of Resources magazine focuses on balancing environmental protection with economic growth in developing countries. Obviously, distributional issues are extremely important, especially where the goal of poverty alleviation starts to conflict with environmental policy. It turns out that fuel taxes, a potentially important method of achieving environmental goals, don’t disproprotionately hurth the poor - […]

Change from the Bottom Up: Mexico’s Pioneering Climate Law

The political gridlock and partisan animosity of an election year is an unwelcome reminder of just how far the United States is from passing legislation to comprehensively regulate greenhouse gas emissions. In contrast, the picture for emissions reduction is growing much brighter to our south. In mid-April, the Mexican legislature passed legislation that requires the […]

Rare Earths: A China Syndrome?

In the fall of 2009 in the South China Sea a maritime territorial dispute involving Japan’s arrest of a Chinese trawler captain prompted China, in retaliation, to suspend export of rare earths to Japan. Rare earths are metallic ores whose unique magnetic properties are vital features of wind turbines, hybrid engines, computers and many other […]

Panama Climate Talks Signal What’s Ahead in Durban

The last major climate conference before UN Conference of the Parties 17 (COP17) begins next month wrapped up in Panama on Friday. Decisions and unresolved issues from the conference are indicators of what might be expected in Durban. The main concern is the extension of the Kyoto Protocol. Australia and Norway have drafted a plan […]

The Cost of Climate Change in Canada

RFF experts have delved into domestic climate adaptation risks and recommendations in a comprehensive report, Reforming Institutions and Managing Extremes: U.S. Policy Approaches for Adapting to a Changing Climate. But what about our neighbors to the north? According to Paying the Price: The Economic Impacts of Climate Change for Canada—a report by The National Round […]

Democracy and China: Help or Hindrance to Growth?

Over the past several years, China’s economy has grown by about nine percent on average, while India’s has grown by about eight percent. Both countries are taking ambitious steps to reduce their carbon emissions. India has established a program called Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT) that will set efficiency levels for the country’s top polluters, […]

Australia’s Carbon Tax: Insights Into A U.S. Policy?

Australia is about to put a price on carbon emissions. Legislation will be introduced to the Parliament around September 14, and after a failed earlier attempt, this time the policy is highly likely to become law, though the Liberal (conservative) party opposes it. The design of the scheme offers insights for how the U.S. might, […]

China’s Solar Feed-In Tariffs: One Technology’s Moment In The Sun?

In early August, China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced the implementation of a national feed-in tariff for solar power, roughly equivalent to 15–18 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh). China hopes these guaranteed subsidies will double its current solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity by the end of 2011. Such a goal might seem wildly ambitious, […]

Changes In Market Mechanisms: The CDM Without China

As the Kyoto Protocol nears its expiration date, the sometimes controversial Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is experiencing some dramatic shifts, making its future seem quite different than its past. The CDM was established under the Kyoto Protocol as a way in which developed nations could reduce their carbon emissions to meet the Kyoto targets by […]

The Challenge Of Reducing Deforestation In Indonesia

When it comes to reducing deforestation, Indonesia is a top investment choice. The country has the fastest deforestation rate, with two million hectares cleared every year from 2000 – 2009, a two percent decrease yearly in forested areas. If deforestation is included, Indonesia ranks third in the world in carbon emissions, trailing the United States […]