Common Resources

Two World Views on Carbon Revenues

Traditionally, the value created from pricing pollution has been directed to the regulated industry, an approach called “grandfathering.” However, there has been a growing trend, especially when pricing carbon emissions, toward auctioning emissions permits and the direct payment of emissions fees. These approaches are more consistent with the polluter pays principle and cast carbon revenues […]

Supreme Court To Hear Key EPA/Carbon Case, But Only on Narrow Grounds

The Supreme Court today granted cert for (agreed to hear) appeals from a set of consolidated cases decided by the DC Circuit last year. In those cases, the lower court had preserved EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. Ann Carlson of UCLA has an excellent summary on Legal Planet - it’s worth […]

A Global Perspective on the Social Cost of Carbon

Some recent posts examining estimates of the social cost of carbon (SCC) noted that the SCC applies to the world as a whole: it is the global concentration of CO2—irrespective of the geographic origin of emissions—that prompts concern over climate change. How does that fact translate into costs facing one or another CO2-emitting country?

Good News for Gas from New Fugitive Methane Numbers

Is the shale gas boom good or bad for climate? It largely depends on methane. Methane, the primary constituent of natural gas, is a double-edged sword in climate terms. It burns much cleaner than coal—about half of the CO2 emissions and far less of most other pollutants for the same energy output. But released directly […]

Estimating The Social Cost Of Carbon: Robert Pindyck’s Critique

The US government’s new consensus estimate of the social cost of carbon (SCC)—around $43 per ton of CO2 from a 2020 baseline—has met with some approval in academic and other circles (as we discussed yesterday). But some of the harshest criticisms, at least insofar as the blogosphere would interpret them, have come from MIT economist […]

How Energy Efficiency Features are Reflected in Home Prices

In a recent analysis of real estate data from Portland, OR; Austin, TX; and the Research Triangle region of North Carolina, we find, with colleague Todd Gerarden, that local “green” certifications appear to have a larger impact on sales prices for homes than the national Energy Star certification. We also find that Energy Star certification […]

Realistic Expectations for EPA Carbon Policy

Brian Potts says EPA existing-source performance standards (ESPS) for power plant carbon emissions won’t matter much since they can’t or won’t be very stringent. This is partly true, if a bit overstated. You’re certainly kidding yourself if you’re counting on ESPS to take care of US climate policy on their own - though I know […]

Technology Flexibility and Stringency for Greenhouse Gas Regulations

The Clean Air Act provides the current regulatory framework for climate policy in the United States. A key component of US policy as called for in President Obama’s recent memorandum to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will be the use of flexible approaches in achieving reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. EPA is expected to […]

The Global Cost of Carbon Emissions: A Lingering Quandary For Policy

The federal government has a new estimate for the global social cost of carbon emissions. A recent “Technical Support Document” prepared by an interagency working group bears the more elaborate and dispassionate sub-title: “Technical Update of the Social Cost of Carbon for Regulatory Impact Analysis—Under Executive Order 12866.” That Executive Order, among other things, allows “agencies […]

What the President’s Climate Plan Means for Natural Gas

If the President’s Plan can ever get out of the blocks—by no means a given with the legal challenges coming—natural gas is likely to be the big winner in the electricity fuel mix at the expense of coal, and may also make further inroads against oil in our transportation fleet. Because of the much lower […]