RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Adele Morris, October 26, 2009, The Brookings Institution
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. Read More
PAST EVENT
Thursday, December 17, 2009
12:00 PM to 01:30 PM
Copenhagen, Denmark
The Energy Security Initiative at Brookings, in cooperation with Chatham House, E3G and Institute for Environmental Security, organized an official COP15 side event which explored climate change impacts on national security and how the global climate regime can address this threat. The event featured presentations by military leaders from developed as well as developing nations on the likely security impacts of climate change as well as remarks by security experts. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Henrik Selin and Stacy D. VanDeveer, December 17, 2009, The Brookings Institution
With ongoing global climate change negotiations taking place, Canada, Mexico and the United States should move ahead and collectively mandate controls on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, expand renewable energy generation, and regulate fossil fuel consumption and technology standards. If North American GHG emissions are to be reduced efficiently and effectively across public and private sector entities, federal authorities in all three countries will need to act in cooperation with one another as they did with the North American Free Trade Agreement. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Adele Morris, Nathan Hultman, Emmanuel Asmah and Peter J. Wilcoxen, December 09, 2009, The Brookings Institution
Experts from the Global Economy and Development program analyze the talks at the 15th U.N. climate change conference in Copenhagen and provide comments on the key areas that will likely be addressed, including the status of U.S. climate legislation, low-carbon energy technologies, and financing for Africa. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Nathan Hultman and Jonathan G. Koomey, December 02, 2009, The Brookings Institution
Nuclear power has experienced a resurgence of interest and the dramatically-altered landscape of energy politics has given reasonable cause to believe that a "nuclear renaissance" may be at hand. Brookings expert Nathan Hultman and Yale University professor Jonathan G. Koomey discuss the real risk of nuclear power and recommend a cautious and transparent rollout of new nuclear spending. Read More
VIDEO
Warwick J. McKibbin, December 01, 2009
Global leaders from nearly 200 nations have begun climate change talks at the United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen. A major goal of the meetings is to develop an international framework for lowering the amount of greenhouse gas emissions to which both developing and industrialized nations can agree. Warwick McKibbin notes that finding common ground will be difficult but says it must be done.
VIDEO
Warwick J. McKibbin, November 13, 2009
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.
VIDEO
Adele Morris, November 06, 2009
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved a climate change bill in November despite a boycott from Republican committee members. Fellow Adele Morris examines the legislation and what policymakers will be able to offer at the UN climate change talks in Copenhagen in December.
PAST EVENT
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
3:30 PM to 5:00 PM
Washington, DC
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. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Carolyn Fischer and Richard Morgenstern, October 26, 2009, The Brookings Institution
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. Read More
VIDEO
Warwick J. McKibbin, September 24, 2009
Crafting global policy to address climate change is a priority for leaders attending the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh. Nonresident Senior Fellow Warwick McKibbin previews the talks, noting the complexities the leaders face in finding the common ground necessary to tackle this consuming issue.
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Bryan K. Mignone, September 17, 2009, The Brookings Institution
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. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
September 17, 2009, The Brookings Institution
On September 24, President Obama will chair his first G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh. With the world economy improving, leaders will now focus their attention on economic recovery and restoring financial stability. Experts from Brookings Global Economy and Development program analyze top issues to be addressed at the summit and provide recommendations on how to effectively overcome global economic and governance challenges to ensure recovery now and to prevent future crises. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Bryan K. Mignone, September 17, 2009, The Brookings Institution
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. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Craig Pirrong, September 17, 2009, The Brookings Institution
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. Read More