Common Resources

Climate in the Second Inaugural: Signal and Substance

In President Obama’s second inaugural address he singled out climate change as a policy priority, which would be an unusual step in any inaugural address. Over the last decade presidents have mentioned wounded travelers, deepest beliefs and lofty goals; but not specific policy priorities. For instance, the extent of President Obama’s statement about health care […]

RFF Feature: Policy Options for Encouraging Home Energy Efficiency Improvements

New research by RFF’s Margaret Walls identifies the tradeoffs associated with choosing among loans, subsidies, and standards as policies to encourage energy efficiency improvements in homes. Read the full feature here.

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, […]

Can Fracking Help Achieve Climate Stabilization and Long-term Energy Independence?

In some recent posts, Joel Darmstader and I discussed aspects of North American energy independence, with a focus on oil independence. In the last post in the series, Joel looked at environmental consequences of the rapidly changing continental energy picture. I think that issue is worth a second look. The development of natural resources often […]

States Push EPA to Regulate Methane from Oil & Gas Operations

New York and six other eastern states announced this week that they intend to sue the EPA, seeking to force the agency to regulate methane emissions from oil and natural gas operations. Specifically, they claim EPA is required by the Clean Air Act to issue new source performance standards (NSPS) for methane emissions from wells, […]

NRDC’s Clean Air Act GHG Plan

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has proposed the first comprehensive plan to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from stationary sources under the Clean Air Act. The plan would have the EPA assign emission rate standards for existing coal and gas fired power plants. States could allow facilities to average their emissions rate. The emissions rate […]

Aiming Low: The Ambition Deficit in Global Emissions Reductions

As in Durban, a notable concern at this COP is the “ambition deficit”—that is, the significant gap between the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s recommended level of emissions reductions—those required to limit global temperature rise to 2°C—and the level of emissions reductions currently committed to by countries worldwide. In other words, everyone is aiming low […]

Substitutes and Complements

At yesterday’s RFF/AEI/Brookings carbon tax conference, the first two speakers correctly emphasized that with the right price in place, we wouldn’t need the panoply of indirect alternative policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, such as renewable portfolio standards and clean energy subsidies. The following speaker, however, referred to these indirect policies as “complementary.” That characterization […]

Keeping the Copenhagen Pledge - Barely

Michael Levi at the Council on Foreign Relations has commented on our new discussion paper “US Status on Climate Change Mitigation” where we find, somewhat surprisingly, that the country is on course to achieve reductions in greenhouse gas emissions commensurate with President Obama’s pledge in Copenhagen. That pledge called for reductions in the range of […]

RFF Feature: US Energy Subsidies: Effects on Energy Markets and Carbon Dioxide Emissions

RFF researchers look at how federal energy-related spending programs and tax provisions impacted US emissions of carbon dioxide between 2005 and 2009, finding a change toward reductions in emissions over that time period. To read the piece in its entirety, click here.