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Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:32:00 GMT
Delaying national commitments to reach reduced greenhouse gas emissions will be more costly for national governments in the long run. Nonresident Senior Fellow Warwick McKibbin says the floundering global economy is a critical factor in what actions can be taken now.
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Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:00:00 GMT
Event Information:
- November 06, 2009, 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM
In mid-November, President Barack Obama began his first trip to Asia as president with a visit to Tokyo. He also traveled to China, South Korea and Singapore, where took part in meetings of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. Prior to the president's trip, the Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies and the John L. Thornton China Center at Brookings hosted a discussion of President Obama’s trip and the issues he was likely to face.
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Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:30:00 GMT
Event Information:
- November 04, 2009, 3:30 PM to 5:00 PM
As attention to U.S. climate legislation has been increasing on Capitol Hill, Brookings hosted a discussion on a new series of papers on U.S. climate policy design. These papers acknowledge the complexity inherent in climate policy; explain the fundamental challenges involved in addressing a particular set of design features; and suggest a credible path forward, calling attention to tradeoffs where they exist.
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Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT
In December, the 15th Conference of Parties will attempt to reach an agreement on new international climate change and emissions regulations. Charles Ebinger and Govinda Avasarala note that any agreement is likely to use a plethora of technologies which many nations do not have access to, and they propose solutions to the intellectual property rights issues involved.
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Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT
There is an emerging consensus among governments that aggressive climate change mitigation would be desirable, though they remain divided about how the associated burden should be shared. Urjit Patel argues that a burden sharing criterion which involves emissions permit allocation to each developing country would be a fair deal and discusses how this would affect India.
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Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:00:00 GMT
Event Information:
- October 30, 2009, 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM
On October 30, the Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies at Brookings and the Slavic Research Center at Hokkaido University hosted leading experts from Japan and the United States for a conference on the U.S.-Japan alliance in relation to nuclear energy and nuclear nonproliferation. Topics included trends in international nuclear markets, the U.S. approach to nuclear energy and the future of nuclear nonproliferation.
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Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT
A number of climate policy observers and U.S. policymakers have expressed concerns about the implications of climate policy for the U.S. industrial base. In this paper, Carolyn Fischer and Richard Morgenstern show that specific concerns about industrial competitiveness and emissions leakage could be realistically addressed in the context of a cap-and-trade system without unduly distorting the incentives that are essential to realizing an economically efficient outcome.
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Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT
A cap-and-trade system of the sort envisioned by the current generation of Congressional proposals would create a new market in carbon allowances worth potentially hundreds of billions of dollars. In this paper, Adele Morris discusses the likely distributional implications of a U.S. cap-and-trade system and how policymakers could manage these implications by altering the way in which allowances or allowance revenues are distributed throughout the broader economy.
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Tue, 13 Oct 2009 09:00:00 GMT
Event Information:
- October 13, 2009, 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM
On October 13, the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program hosted a panel discussion around how to best prepare and support metropolitan regions in the development of integrated blueprint plans for sustainable growth.
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Thu, 08 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Robert Puentes and Adie Tomer assess metropolitan air travel trends over the past two decades. They find that most travel is consolidated within a select group of 26 metropolitan areas, which contribute to the country’s highest volume corridors and produce the worst on-time performance. Their findings reveal serious implications for the country’s aviation infrastructure as passenger volumes are predicted to grow in the coming years.
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Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:16:15 GMT
While air travel has made the globe and the nation more accessible, simply flying from one state to the next is often fraught with delayed flights, runway congestion and a host of other problems. Robert Puentes, an author of a new report on air travel trends, says that their report findings can help policymakers address critical issues affecting the nation’s transportation infrastructure.
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Thu, 17 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Binding greenhouse gas emissions targets are the backbone of any cap-and-trade system, but the appropriate stringency of domestic reductions remains an unresolved issue in US legislation. In this paper, Bryan Mignone shows how available scientific information could be coupled with a variety of judgments about climate risk and international burden-sharing to yield a plausible range of domestic cap-and-trade targets.
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Thu, 17 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Craig Pirrong writes that current legislative attempts to regulate derivatives trading in the climate and energy context are severely misguided. While arguing that the ex post enforcement regime should be strengthened to deter price manipulation, he suggests that overly restrictive clearing and exchange requirements will dramatically increase the costs of managing carbon price risk.
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Thu, 17 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Concerns about the economic costs of climate policy and the potential for volatility in the future carbon market have led to a proliferation of possible mechanisms to mitigate these concerns. Bryan Mignone shows how a coherent "cost containment" policy could be constructed by considering two key substantive objectives – price stability and cost viability – and then tailoring policy instruments to meet these objectives.
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Thu, 23 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Kemal Derviş testified before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on America’s critical role in supporting climate change adaptation in the world’s most vulnerable communities. Derviş stressed that although global economies are facing serious financial challenges, time is of the essence to protect those most affected. He provided recommendations to enact globally acceptable and enforceable policies to tackle climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
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Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT
One controversial issue in the larger cap-and-trade debate is the proper use and certification of carbon offsets related to changes in land management. Bryan Mignone, Matthew Hurteau, Yihsu Chen and Brent Sohngen show how reversal risk associated with such instruments could be properly internalized in a crediting framework and how this framework itself could be used to manage prices in the future carbon market.
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Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT
As the Senate discusses the Waxman-Markey bill, Brian Mignone writes that architects of climate policy would do well to heed key lessons from the House debate. Mignone believes well-designed guidelines toward carbon offsets should enhance three key objectives, including political support for cap-and-trade, and preserve or enhance the environmental integrity of the broader policy.
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Mon, 06 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT
In this op-ed, Ted Gayer argues that in supplementing their cap-and-trade program with expensive mandates, Congress levies heavy costs with no environmental gain.
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Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Major topics of discussion at the upcoming G8 summit will be energy and climate change policy. Charles Ebinger assesses where the United States currently stands on the issues and outlines what needs to be done to formulate sound policy for the future.
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Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT
An estimated 50-200 million people may move by the middle of the century as a result of the negative effects of climate change, either within their countries or across borders, on a permanent or temporary basis. While some of this movement may be voluntary, some of it will not. Walter Kälin points out that there are significant differences in both groups' situations and the responses to their migrations must also be different.
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Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Ted Gayer argues that the House of Representatives' has decided to ignore its painful lesson in the pitfalls of carbon offsets in the cap-and-trade bill.
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Wed, 17 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Robert Puentes argues that a new federal interagency partnership, debuted before the Senate this week, could provide the federal leadership necessary for a unified vision of transportation, housing, and environmental policy designed to tackle our interrelated economic, energy, and climate challenges.
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Mon, 08 Jun 2009 10:30:00 GMT
Event Information:
- June 08, 2009, 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM
On June 8, the Brookings Institution hosted a preview of a forthcoming report on the economic impact of climate change reduction strategies by Brookings experts Warwick McKibbin, Adele Morris and Peter Wilcoxen.
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Thu, 04 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT
In testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Kenneth Lieberthal addressed the growing need for U.S.-China climate cooperation and how it is in the interest of both countries. Lieberthal testified that an important step is for the U.S. to have a realistic understanding of the reasons China's emissions are growing so rapidly, and he offered suggestions for the future of the relationship.
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Tue, 26 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Ted Gayer explains why forcing the market to produce large amounts of renewable fuel will harm consumers.
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Wed, 20 May 2009 14:40:26 GMT
In proposing higher fuel efficiency standards for new cars, President Obama has intervened in the private sector. Cliff Winston explains how consumer demand alone for fuel efficient cars was clearly not strong enough to drive the market in that direction. But, he warns of such unintended consequences as cars being less safe and driven more.
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Tue, 19 May 2009 08:00:00 GMT
Event Information:
- May 19, 2009, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM
- May 20, 2009, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM
On May 19 and 20, the Center for Hydrogen Fusion Power at New York University’s Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences and the Brookings Institution co-sponsored the conference Hybrid Fusion Systems: What Can They Do and Can They Do It Soon. The conference considered the role of current and near-term energy future technologies in the larger energy environment and the current regulatory picture. Presenters explored interdisciplinary topics such as: fusion, fission, and hybrid systems, waste treatment, non-proliferation, and regulation.
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Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:00:00 GMT
Event Information:
- April 28, 2009, 2:00 PM to 5:30 PM
Preserving Cuba’s biodiversity is critically important to the natural resources and economies of coastal communities in the United States and other neighboring countries. On April 28, the Brookings Institution and the Environmental Defense Fund will host a discussion on U.S.-Cuba relations on marine and coastal resources conservation.
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Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:27:10 GMT
Nearly 40 years ago, Earth Day was founded to increase awareness about our protecting the environment. Adele Morris says the call for action to control climate change is greater than ever and urges President Obama and other world leaders to work together on this critical issue.
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Fri, 17 Apr 2009 15:30:00 GMT
Event Information:
- April 17, 2009, 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM
On April 17, the Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies at Brookings hosted former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan for an address on key issues facing Japan, the United States and the world.
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Thu, 16 Apr 2009 09:51:07 GMT
Mauricio Cárdenas, director of the Latin America Initiative, says the focus of the fifth Summit of the Americas will be the global economic crisis. He also explains that the nations need to agree on strengthening regional development banks and that certain countries need open trade.
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Tue, 14 Apr 2009 10:00:00 GMT
Event Information:
- April 14, 2009, 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM
The Obama administration faces a number of challenges in Latin America. The fifth Summit of the Americas offers leaders of the Western Hemisphere an opportunity to partner on a new and robust agenda that spans global economic, social, energy and climate change issues. On April 14, Brookings experts discussed the critical issues facing the leaders attending the summit and proposed recommendations for action.
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Mon, 13 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Leaders of the Western Hemisphere gathered in Trinidad and Tobago on April 17-19, 2009 for the fifth Summit of the Americas. In a series of commentary articles focused on the summit's agenda and key challenges, Brookings experts discuss critical economic, social, energy and climate change issues facing the leaders attending the summit and propose recommendations for policy action.
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Wed, 08 Apr 2009 12:30:00 GMT
Event Information:
- April 08, 2009, 12:30 PM to 01:30 PM
The Obama administration faces any number of challenges in Latin America, from Cuba to Colombia, from Bolivia to Venezuela. Mauricio Cárdenas previewed the upcoming Summit of the Americas and took your questions on U.S. policy in the region during a live web chat with Politico's Fred Barbash.
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Wed, 25 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT
The United States has been largely unsuccessful in reducing its petroleum consumption by regulating the fuel economy of motor vehicles. Pietro Nivola proposes a move towards a comprehensive carbon tax, which could reduce gasoline consumption more effectively and curtail carbon emissions from other, more damaging sources.
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Mon, 16 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Ann Florini discussed the difference between "global government" and "global governance," intergovernmental organizations such as the UN, and the role and achievements of civil society and transnational networks, particularly on environmental issues.
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Tue, 03 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT
President Obama recently announced his administration would consider California’s request for higher fuel efficiency standards as part of new efforts on climate change. Yet would improved standards really make a difference in the climate change challenge? Adele Morris examines the issues in-depth, and considers how increased regulatory standards would stack up against the other proposals being considered by the new administration and Congress.
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Tue, 03 Feb 2009 14:53:06 GMT
Describing a proposed national network of regionally based Energy Discovery-Innovation Institutes, Mark Muro highlights how these institutes would be aimed at creating jobs of the future and at transforming our metropolitan economies.
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Mon, 02 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Climate change and global development are two of the most critical challenges facing global policymakers. In a new report, "Double Jeopardy: What the Climate Crisis Means for the Poor" Brookings experts detail these interrelated issues based on discussions at the most recent Brookings Blum Roundtable on Poverty, featuring Dr. Steven Chu and former Vice President Al Gore, among others.
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Tue, 27 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT
As the economic crisis deepens, pressures grow on President Obama to defer campaign pledges like addressing energy security and climate change. Yet, according to William Antholis and Nigel Purvis, postponing major action would be a major mistake. They say Obama should move forward now by working with Congress to create a new Climate Protection Authority.
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Fri, 16 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Energy efficiency and conservation should be the cornerstone of President Obama’s economic stimulus program and energy efficiency plan, writes Charles Ebinger. He argues that the Obama administration should pursue measures that insure the middle class and those making $50,000 or less benefit from these types of programs.
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Thu, 15 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Opportunities for collaboration in fighting climate change are plentiful, including during Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's recent trip to China, but moving forward at the scale needed will require high-level political support. Kenneth Lieberthal and David Sandalow analyze the U.S.-China relationship and offer recommendations on how both countries can move forward to cooperate on the issue.
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Mon, 22 Dec 2008 15:50:23 GMT
Metropolitan Policy Program Fellow Robert Puentes explains the historic trends that have reduced the nation’s “driving footprint” and urges a new vision that reflects the realities of Americans staying out of their cars.
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Fri, 19 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Richard G. Newell discusses innovation strategy to outline how a well-targeted set of climate policies, including those targeted directly at science and innovation that could help lower the overall costs of climate change mitigation.
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Tue, 16 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Nevada, Idaho and Colorado lead the way in ending car dependence, according to a first-ever ranking, as do the metro areas around Austin, Indianapolis and Atlanta. A new Brookings report by Robert Puentes and Adie Tomer shows that other modes of transit grow in popularity, even as gas prices drop, suggesting a need for dramatic shifts in the way we fund transportation, build our communities and address greenhouse gas emissions.
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Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Today’s fiscally-constrained environment demands a new approach to infrastructure policy both for short-term stimulus and long-term prosperity. In this backgrounder, Robert Puentes outlines a strategic infrastructure investment path to upgrade our existing system, expand choices in moving people and goods and move us closer to energy independence.
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Wed, 03 Dec 2008 09:30:00 GMT
Event Information:
- December 03, 2008, 9:30 AM to 11:00 AM
On December 3, Brookings will host a discussion exploring the key questions of our national support for transit projects by examining the construction of the Purple Line, a proposed 16-mile rapid transit line in the Maryland suburbs. Panelists will discuss the federal evaluation process, the role of the state in funding and the challenges in securing support from local communities.
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Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Writing as the UN Conference on Climate Change occured in Poland, William Antholis and Bryan Mignone argued that over the past decade, the evidence for human-induced climate change has become one of the most widely accepted scientific findings of our time. They offer four recommendations for President Barack Obama to carry out a comprehensive and economically sensible approach to the issue.
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Sun, 30 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Warwick McKibbin and Peter Wilcoxen write that as a mechanism for controlling climate change, the Kyoto Protocol has not been a success. They offer an alternative framework for international climate policy, the McKibbin-Wilcoxen Hybrid3 as an approach that focuses on coordinated actions rather than mandated, inflexible outcomes.
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Tue, 25 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT
The economic costs of a cap-and-trade system will depend on the extent to which the program facilitates compliance flexibility. Bryan Mignone compares the costs of different cap-and-trade policy architectures and estimates the economic value of realizing flexibility with respect to the timing of emissions abatement.
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Mon, 24 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Establishment of a mandatory cap-and-trade system in the United States remains an essential element of a comprehensive response to the global climate problem. Bryan Mignone considers the expected evolution of allowance prices in the future carbon market and what this implies for the design of provisions to limit the economic costs of such a program.
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Mon, 24 Nov 2008 09:30:00 GMT
Event Information:
- November 24, 2008, 9:30 AM to 11:00 AM
On November 24, 2008 the Brookings Institution and the Heinrich Boell Foundation convened a panel of US and European climate experts to discuss the outlook for the upcoming climate negotiations and the potential new relationship between the United States and Europe on the issue of climate change. The panel examined two aspects of the relationship – the domestic situations on both sides of the Atlantic and how the realities on the ground will play into the international negotiating positions at Copenhagen.
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Fri, 14 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Building a secure energy future for the United States would be a fine cornerstone of a first term in the White House, William Antholis and Charles Ebinger write. Barack Obama's campaign pledge to reduce our dependence on oil and to slash greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050 is an exciting new approach to energy security and climate change, but a more detailed work plan is needed.
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Wed, 12 Nov 2008 12:30:00 GMT
Event Information:
- November 12, 2008, 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM
Energy security and climate change are top priorities for the next president—second only perhaps to addressing the economic crisis. The Scouting Report continued its weekly web chat with Brookings Managing Director William Antholis, who discussed the energy security and climate change issues facing President-elect Obama. Politico Senior Editor Fred Barbash moderated.
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Tue, 11 Nov 2008 11:30:00 GMT
Event Information:
- November 11, 2008, 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM
On November 11, Brookings held the second of 12 events to provide policy recommendations and political advice to the incoming president. William Antholis and Charles Ebinger presented their recommendations to President-elect Obama, including “cap-and-trade” legislation, a reshuffling of the federal bureaucracy, cooperation with state and local governments and diplomacy with a range of nations.
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Mon, 10 Nov 2008 15:30:00 GMT
Event Information:
- November 10, 2008, 3:30 PM to 5:00 PM
On November 10, the Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies at Brookings hosted Ambassador Ichiro Fujisaki of Japan for an address on the acute financial and environmental crises facing the world. Ambassador Fujisaki offered insights and approaches to these issues and outline where Japan and the world should be headed.
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Thu, 30 Oct 2008 15:00:00 GMT
Event Information:
- October 30, 2008, 3:00 PM to 4:15 PM
On October 30, the Brookings Institution, in conjunction with the Lowy Institute for International Policy and the International Food Policy Research Institute, will host Professor Ross Garnaut for a discussion on climate change policy. The occasion will also mark the launch of The Garnaut Climate Change Review in the United States.
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Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT
For decades, energy has been an economic and national security flash point; and more recently scientists have warned of catastrophic climate change. Today, both presidential candidates list energy security and climate change as top priorities. In an interview with Politico’s David Mark, William Antholis described some energy security worse case scenarios, discussed where the candidates agree and disagree, and also where both are silent.
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Fri, 10 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT
As President-Elect Obama prepares to lead the United States, what are the top global economic challenges facing the new president and his advisors and how should the new administration address them? A new report by Brookings global economic and development experts ranks the top 10 issues and details specific ideas for how to tackle the toughest challenges.
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Thu, 18 Sep 2008 13:45:00 GMT
Event Information:
- September 18, 2008, 1:45 PM to 5:00 PM
On September 18, experts from the Brookings Institution, the Earth Institute of Columbia University and the Academy of Macroeconomic Research under the National Development and Reform Commission of China discussed China’s economic outlook within the context of climate change, the potential for alternative energy use in China and the specifics of China’s greenhouse gas emissions challenges and water crisis.
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Mon, 15 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT
With cleanup from Hurricane Ike now underway across Texas and the upper Gulf coast, Bryan Mignone argues it is time to work to mitigate the costs of climate change. He writes that reducing carbon dioxide concentrations will help counter threats posed by extreme conditions such as drought and sea-level rises, in addition to lowering the growing risk of large hurricanes.
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Sun, 31 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT
David Sandalow observes that Senator John McCain takes sharply different positions than his vice presidential pick, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, on three of the leading energy issues of our time.
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Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Global warming—among the most complex economic, political and diplomatic challenges of our time—has become a central focus of the presidential campaign, with both candidates supporting the creation of a cap-and-trade system that would limit national emissions. Strobe Talbott and Carlos Pascual argue that the U.S. must take the lead now in facing the annual buildup in greenhouse gas emissions that threatens global catastrophe.
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Mon, 18 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT
The 2008 Brookings Blum Roundtable recently convened representatives to focus on how the poor of the world will cope with climate change. With a few notable exceptions, the climate adaptation challenge, and the links between climate change, economic growth, human rights, and poverty alleviation, has not been high on the corporate agenda. Jane Nelson, an expert in corporate social responsibility, recommends the corporate community take action to address climate change adaptation in the developing world.
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Fri, 15 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT
For years, global poverty eradication and climate change mitigation have been two prominent but separate struggles yet in order to solve both challenges, policymakers will need to consider linked issues across both fields and understand how solutions for one might affect the other. In a new paper for the 2008 Brookings Blum Roundtable, Lael Brainard and Nigel Purvis examine the issues facing climate change and global development and offer recommendations for how to address the urgency of both policy imperatives.
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Wed, 13 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT
In testimony before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, Erica Downs outlined China's energy policymaking reforms and how they are unlikely to substantially improve energy governance. She also discussed the implications of these changes for the United States.
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Tue, 12 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT
In June 2008, Johannes Linn warned of a water and energy crisis facing Central Asia and advised governments and international agencies to take urgent action. The following month, at the invitation of the United Nations Development Program, 15 international and bilateral agencies met in Kazakhstan to review the impending crisis in the region. Linn highlights the agencies’ findings and provides an update on the regions and international community’s next steps.
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Mon, 11 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Johannes Linn examines the challenges of managing the abundance of natural resources in Central Asia. Macroeconomic management difficulties, volatility of earnings, and negative impacts of high natural resource revenues on national institutions and governance are common consequences of the “natural resource curse.”
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Fri, 01 Aug 2008 08:00:00 GMT
Event Information:
- August 01, 2008, 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM
- August 03, 2008, 8:00 AM to 9:30 PM
In its fifth annual gathering, the Brookings Blum Roundtable addressed the challenges of climate change and development and convened leaders from both the development and climate change communities to discuss and debate policy ideas that could benefit both fronts. By examining common challenges—accountability, effective deployment of resources, agenda-setting, mobilizing the public and financial resources, and achieving scale and sustainability—the roundtable established a solid foundation for collaboration among the climate change and development communities and fostered ideas for policy action.
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Thu, 31 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT
In a new report by the Terrestrial Carbon Group, Senior Fellow Warwick McKibbin and co-author Ralph Ashton, argue that policymakers should consider action to unlock the potential of terrestrial carbon, including trees, soil and peat, to help alleviate climate change.
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Thu, 31 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT
In a follow up to their Hamilton Project discussion paper, Pay-As-You-Drive Auto Insurance: A Simple Way to Reduce Driving-Related Harms and Increase Equity, Jason Bordoff and Pascal Noel examine the effects of pay-as-you-drive in California.
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Tue, 29 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT
There is little lawmakers can do in the short run to reduce prices at the pump, argue Jason Bordoff and Pascal Noel. What if there were a way to lower the cost of driving while still encouraging people to drive less and use less oil? The authors examine how pay-as-you-drive auto insurance supports this goal.
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Mon, 21 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Climate change may be the key obstacle in preventing China from reaching equivalent living standards with the Western world. Warwick McKibbin, Peter Wilcoxen, and Wing Thye Woo analyze the future of international climate change agreements and offer recommendations on how to engage China, continue growth and establish an effective framework.
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Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Climate change is happening and one of its visible impacts is the increasing numbers of persons displaced by natural disasters. In the course of the past year, more than 400 natural disasters affected over 234 million persons, cost over 16,000 lives, and also displaced millions of people. According to Walter Kalin, the existing system is only partially equipped to deal with this challenge and it's necessary to develop appropriate humanitarian responses.
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Mon, 07 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT
A draft report of the Garnaut Climate Change Review, released on July 4, 2008, attempts to lay out the issues for policy choice on climate change in Australia. Warwick McKibbin argues that Garnaut’s proposed emissions trading system, filled with too many uncertainties, disregards a vital international perspective.
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Sun, 06 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Following the release of the draft report of the Garnaut Climate Change Review in Australia, Warwick McKibbin was interviewed by Alan Kohler of ABC's "Inside Business," and discussed his views on the report and his own proposals for international climate change policies. Instead of Garnaut’s proposed emissions trading system, McKibbin advocates for a framework that includes clear, transparent, long-term goals with less uncertainty.
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Thu, 03 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT
As Australia faces a critical point in designing a national climate-policy framework, it could help drive the global debate on the type of policies to be enacted in a post-Kyoto world. Warwick McKibbin advocates for a national system that combines long-term emissions trading and a short-term fixed price for carbon.
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Thu, 03 Jul 2008 12:00:00 GMT
Event Information:
- July 03, 2008, 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM
On July 3, 2008, the Australian National University hosted Warwick McKibbin for a presentation on Australia's role in the search for a sensible climate policy. This lecture draws on a new report that builds on Kyoto but which addresses the key elements needed to build a truly global regime. The lecture also outlines why a traditional cap and trade emission trading system as proposed by some is inadequate to deal with the uncertainty that underlies climate change and is not in Australia’s national interest.
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Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT
While Central Asia faces a major water and energy crisis, Tajikistan looks towards a potential long-term remedy—completion of what is to become the world’s highest dam. Johannes Linn visited Rogun Dam and explains that the Soviet-era dam could generate enough power for most of the country’s electricity needs and provide exports to neighboring countries.
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Thu, 19 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Returning from Central Asia, Johannes Linn describes a water and energy crisis in the region, which could produce severe humanitarian, economic, and political challenges. Through a set of recommendations, Linn urges governments, international agencies, and multilateral and bilateral partners to take urgent steps to prevent this looming crisis.
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Mon, 16 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Vicki Huddleston discusses Cuba's plans to start drilling off the country's coast in order to access billions of barrels of crude oil. Huddleston says that United States companies should get involved and believes continuing to isolate the U.S. from Cuba in a competitive oil market will only hurt in the long run.
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Thu, 12 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Robert Puentes calls on the federal government to empower major metropolitan areas by giving them direct transportation funding and the flexibility to make unbiased decisions between different modes of transportation. The federal government can then maximize performance by committing itself (and the recipients of federal funds) to an evidence-based, outcome driven, and benchmarked way of doing business.
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Thu, 12 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT
To unleash greater local and national prosperity U.S. metropolitan leaders need to be better equipped to deal with today’s increasingly dynamic economic, social and environmental realities. This report calls for a new federal-state-metro partnership that provides metropolitan actors the support, capacity, tools and discretion they need to resolve key challenges; grow in more productive, inclusive, and sustainable ways; and, ultimately, to maximize America’s overall prosperity.
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Wed, 11 Jun 2008 13:00:00 GMT
Event Information:
- June 11, 2008, 1:00 PM to
- June 12, 2008, 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Brookings and Google.org hosted a conference on electric vehicles, their potential to reduce U.S. oil dependence and the role of federal policy in promoting this technology.
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Thu, 29 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Brookings released a report that ranks the carbon footprint of the nation’s top 100 metropolitan areas. For the first time, the report quantifies a metropolitan area’s carbon footprint based upon carbon emissions from highway transportation and residential energy consumption and lists metropolitan areas by total metric tons of carbon emissions per capita in 2005. The report offers recommendations on how the federal government should step up its support of metropolitan efforts to shrink their carbon footprints.
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Wed, 14 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT
In this paper, Geraldo Barros provides an overview of Brazil’s agro-industrial sector and examines the challenges Brazil faces in becoming an agricultural superpower. These challenges include restoring the investment pattern in infrastructure, science and technology, and human capital of previous decades.
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Tue, 22 Apr 2008 12:00:00 GMT
Event Information:
- April 22, 2008, 12:00 PM to 12:00
On April 22, Global Economy and Development at Brookings hosted a luncheon discussion with Dr. Jeffrey Sachs and other distinguished panelists. The conversation held on Earth Day tackled questions like how global leaders and a new U.S. administration might utilize new approaches to resolve some of the globe’s most pressing problems including environment and climate change, population growth, extreme poverty and global governance. Dr. Sachs, Special Advisor to the UN Secretary-General and Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, shared ideas from his latest book, “Common Wealth: Economic Possibilities for a Crowded Planet.”
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Wed, 16 Apr 2008 15:00:00 GMT
Event Information:
- April 16, 2008, 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM
On April 16, the Brookings Institution hosted James Gustave Speth, dean of the Yale School of Environment & Forestry, for a discussion of his new book The Bridge at the Edge of the World: Capitalism, the Environment, and Crossing from Crisis to Sustainability (Yale University Press, 2008).
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Fri, 28 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT
The Garnaut Climate Change Review, commissioned by Australia's state and territory governments, examines the impacts of climate change on the Australian economy and makes recommendations for sustainable prosperity. Warwick McKibbin examines the science the review is based on and the political cloud that hovers over the climate debate.
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Mon, 24 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT
An analysis of projected property value increases created by the implementation of the federal-state Great Lakes Regional Collaboration (GLRC) Restoration Strategy shows estimated total benefits for the region’s metropolitan areas on the order of $16.1 billion to $26.5 billion.
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Thu, 20 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT
The country is facing a water crisis, argues Michael Greenstone, who proposes an active market in water rights that would help solve the problems posed by current water shortages in the West, and would provide the flexibility necessary to confront the impact of climate change on water supplies in the coming decades. "It would be," he says, "in a word, fluid."
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Mon, 03 Mar 2008 14:00:00 GMT
Event Information:
- March 03, 2008, 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM
On March 3, the Brookings Institution hosted the top Japanese and U.S. climate change advisors for a discussion on their governments’ respective policy initiatives. The speakers explored options for a new international framework on climate change and discuss the role of the Hokkaido Summit as a critical milestone in ongoing climate policy negotiations.
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Sat, 01 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT
China and the United States share the challenges of sustaining economic growth and affordable energy, but their joint efforts have achieved little beyond understanding each other’s positions on various energy issues. CNAPS Visiting Fellow Richard Weixing Hu argues that dialogues should include more substantive discussion on energy cooperation by addressing strategic anxieties, energy efficiency and the price of oil.
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Sat, 01 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Jason Bordoff presents a plan for "pay-as-you-drive" car insurance, a win-win policy—good for society and good for most drivers—that makes significant progress on climate change, congestion and other driving-related harms and is more equitable at the same time, all while reducing insurance costs for the majority of drivers.
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Thu, 07 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Climate change has the unprecedented potential to profoundly affect the world’s water supplies. Shrinking reservoirs and more-frequent floods, among other threats, have tremendous ramifications for Americans living in dry areas or near the coast. Overcoming the challenges ahead will require the federal government to rethink how it views water and utility management.
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Fri, 01 Feb 2008 15:15:30 GMT
Two of the top issues that the next president of the United States must face are climate change and global trade. William Antholis explains how the United States can seek breakthroughs in reducing domestic greenhouse gas emissions and succeed in an open world trading system.
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Thu, 31 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Robert W. Hahn identifies key issues that will affect future ethanol support and suggests how politics could affect the development of sensible energy and climate policies in general. He offers some suggestions for more cost-effective development of energy alternatives that would enhance energy security and environmental quality.
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Tue, 29 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain have clashed over strategies to reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil and achieve energy independence. As part of a series of charts examining the candidates’ positions, Opportunity 08 compares their views on energy and climate change.
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Tue, 29 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Michael Greenstone and Justin Gallagher use the housing market to develop estimates of the local welfare impacts of Superfund sponsored clean-ups of hazardous waste sites. They show that if consumers value the clean-ups, predictions will lead to increases in local housing prices and new home construction.
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Wed, 09 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT
David Sandalow offers ideas for how the United States can move beyond its addiction to oil.