Energy Policy Now

Much attention has been paid to the ways we humans are changing our climate. Yet, how has an ever-evolving climate changed us? ---Climate change is one of the monumental challenges of our day, but the reality of climate change is nothing new. In recent decades, scientific advances have expanded our understanding of prehistory, and brought into ever sharper focus the connection between historic variations in climate and the development of humanity and society.By taking a look at the history of climate change, we might see more clearly why today’s warming is so different from periods of change that came before, and how climate change can amplify economic and societal pressures that are already in place.University of Pennsylvania economist Jesus Fernandez Villaverde looks back through time to discuss how climate change may have forced our primate ancestors down the road of evolution, contributed to the fall of empires and, more recently, helped to spur great migrations of people, including those that led to the building of the United States.Related Content 200 Years of Energy History in 30 Minutes https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/energy-policy-now/200-years-energy-history-30-minutesEnergy Transitions Are Brown Before They Go Green. https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/energy-transitions-are-brown-they-go-green The Essential Role of Negative Emissions in Getting to Carbon Neutral https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/essential-role-negative-emissions-getting-carbon-neutral See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Most carbon tax proposals include a border adjustment to protect American industry from foreign competition. Yet research suggests that benefits won't extend to consumers.---Most economists agree that the best way to reduce carbon dioxide emissions that cause global warming is by implementing a carbon tax, and making it more expensive to buy products and services with a high carbon content. Yet by putting a price on carbon, countries may drive up costs for domestic businesses, putting them at a competitive disadvantage to foreign competitors from countries where no carbon price exists.Two experts in climate law and economics look at the most commonly proposed solution to protect American businesses from the competitive impacts of a carbon tax. The solution, known as a border adjustment, would ensure that American and imported goods are subject to the same carbon price.The tool seems simple enough, and in fact every carbon tax proposal in Congress this year features a border adjustment. Yet research suggests that the economic protections promised by border adjustments may not be as great as commonly assumed.David Weisbach is a professor of law at the University of Chicago. Sam Kortum is an economics professor at Yale University. Their work has focused on the role of taxation in addressing climate change, and potential competitive implications of a carbon tax.Related ContentThe Essential Role of Negative Emissions in Getting to Carbon Neutral  https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/essential-role-negative-emissions-getting-carbon-neutralWill COVID-19 Permanently Change the Energy Sector  https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2020/05/29/will-covid-19-permanently-change-energy-sectorRobust Carbon Markets: Rethinking Quantities and Prices in Carbon Pricing  https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/robust-carbon-marketsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

President Trump has gone to great lengths to undo the regulatory accomplishments of his predecessor. But the President’s methods could come back to haunt him, dooming his deregulatory energy and environmental agendas.---The Trump Administration has taken aggressive steps to undo the regulatory accomplishments of former president Obama, with some of the highest profile rollbacks taking place in the energy and environmental arenas. In his three years in office, President Trump has repealed the Clean Power Plan, rolled back restrictions on methane leaks and, most recently, repealed limits on automotive tailpipe emissions. Yet, it’s possible that the same tools that Trump has used to undo the regulatory achievements of his predecessor could be turned against him. A pair of regulatory experts take a look at President Trump’s unprecedented use of three legal tools to pursue his deregulatory agenda, and at how a new administration could use these same tools to roll back Trump-era rules. They also discuss how the very nature of future presidencies may be altered as the deregulatory gloves have been taken off, limiting the ability of presidents to enact important rules on any front. Bethany Davis Noll is Litigation Director at the Institute for Policy Integrity at New York University School of Law. Richard Revesz is Dean Emeritus at NYU School of Law, and directs the Institute for Policy Integrity.  Related ContentBalancing Renewable Energy Goals with Community Interests https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/balancing-renewable-energy-goals-community-interests Whither the Regulatory War on Coal: Scapegoats, Saviors, and Stock Market Reactions https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/paper/working-paper-whither-regulatory-war-coal The Rise of Partisan Politics in Energy Regulation  https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/energy-policy-now/rise-partisan-politics-energy-regulationSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The social cost of carbon provides an estimate of the economic damage caused by carbon emissions. A climate economist tells how it's calculated.---One of the most hotly debated issues in climate policy is the value of the social cost of carbon, which is an estimate of the damage that will come from releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The social cost of carbon is a useful measure to help us understand the price that should be placed on carbon today to limit carbon dioxide emissions, and minimize the climate-related damages that future generations will face.Climate economist Gilbert Metcalf explains how the social cost of carbon is calculated, and looks at the factors that economists take into account in arriving at a value. He also discusses why the value of the social cost of carbon is so contentious, and why the cost estimates accepted by the Trump and Obama administrations diverge so widely.Gilbert Metcalf is a professor of economics at Tufts University and a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. His work focuses on taxation, energy, and environmental economics.Related ContentThe Essential Role of Negative Emissions in Getting to Carbon Neutral https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/essential-role-negative-emissions-getting-carbon-neutralRobust Carbon Markets: Rethinking Quantities and Prices in Carbon Pricing https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/robust-carbon-marketsWhy Americans Want a Carbon Tax, But Won’t Support One at the Polls https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/energy-policy-now/why-americans-want-carbon-tax-wont-support-one-polls See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Climate change, and policies to address it, will change where Americans live and work, and produce energy and food. Two environmental designers discuss an atlas of the country’s future.---A year ago, Democratic members of Congress introduced a resolution to address climate change and economic inequality, with a plan that promises to fundamentally alter Americans’ relationship to their natural and built environments. That vision, the Green New Deal, recalls an earlier bold plan of action for the country at a time of crisis.Nearly 90 years ago the original New Deal created vast public works projects to create jobs during the Great Depression. But its legacy transcends economic recovery. Public works projects realized the goal of universal electrification, built highways to speed future growth, and paved the way for migration to the suburbs and from old industrial centers to new. Along the way, the New Deal fundamentally altered the human map of the United States.Today’s Green New Deal proposes to do something similar. If it comes to pass, it’s likely to change where many Americans live, and how they make their living.Guests Alexandra Lillehei and Billy Fleming of the University of Pennsylvania’s Ian L. McHarg Center for Urbanism and Design talk about what a future map of America, shaped by climate change and a Green New Deal, might look like.  The two have been instrumental in a new initiative called The 2100 Project: An Atlas for the Green New Deal. Through maps, the project envisions changes in population distribution, energy production and agricultural activity over the course of this century.Related Content De-Abstracting Climate Change https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2020/05/19/de-abstracting-climate-changeBalancing Renewable Energy Goals with Community Interests https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/balancing-renewable-energy-goals-community-interests Changing Tides: Public Attitudes on Climate Change and Climate Migration https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/changing-tidesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An economist looks at how economic worries, and political ideology, have made carbon taxes a tough sell.---Economists generally agree that the most efficient way to reduce  carbon dioxide emissions that cause global warming is by putting a price on carbon in the form of a carbon tax. Consumers, though, can tend see things differently. The idea of taxing the fuels that run our cars, and power our homes and jobs, has given Americans pause and, as a result, no carbon tax has been levied to date in the United States.Nevertheless, calls for a carbon tax have become more frequent as concern over climate change has intensified. On Capitol Hill, there are half a dozen carbon fee proposals in circulation, with backing from liberals and conservatives. States have also explored carbon pricing, most notably the state of Washington, where two recent carbon tax ballot initiatives were defeated at the polls.Ioana Marinescu, an economist at the School of Social Policy and Practice at the University of Pennsylvania, discusses the challenge of enacting a carbon tax. She also explores policymakers’ efforts to develop carbon tax legislation to appeal to the broad public, and what might be required for these efforts to ultimately succeed.Ioana Marinescu is assistant professor of public policy with the School of Social Policy & Practice at the University of Pennsylvania.Related ContentThe COVID Carbon Crunch. https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2020/05/12/covid-carbon-crunchRobust Carbon Markets: Rethinking Quantities and Prices Carbon Pricing  https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/robust-carbon-marketsIt’s Ideology, Stupid: Why Voters Still Shun Carbon Taxes https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/its-ideology-stupidSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

More states are targeting 100% clean energy, but is the electric grid ready? An expert in energy policy and economics looks at the policy challenges to creating a robust, carbon-free electricity system.---Across the U.S., a growing number of states have adopted ambitious clean energy goals that will require the bulk of their electricity to come from carbon-free sources by the middle of this century. Yet clean energy will place new demands on the electricity system, which will need to accommodate intermittent wind and solar power, and distributed energy from rooftop solar and electric vehicles. This is a tall order for a grid that was built around large, central power plants fueled by a predictable supply of fossil and nuclear fuel.Judy Chang, an energy economist and engineer with the Brattle Group, explores the policy challenges to updating the electric grid to economically and reliably deliver clean energy. She looks at the cost of building a more flexible grid, and at the political opportunities, and hurdles to its development.Judy Chang is an energy economist and engineer with the Brattle Group who has served as an expert witness before energy regulators in the United States and Canada. Her work focuses on renewable energy, transmission networks, and electricity market design.Related ContentFeasibility of Seasonal Storage for a Fully Electrified Economy https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/feasibility-seasonal-storage-fully-electrified-economyEnergy Transition Challenges for the 2020s  https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/energy-policy-now/energy-transition-challenges-2020sPreparing PGW for a low-carbon future. https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/paper/preparing-pgw-low-carbon-futureSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Political scientist Leah Stokes examines interest groups’ power to shape, and resist, progressive energy policy.---Interest groups play a central role in American politics, and nowhere has their influence been felt more acutely than in the areas of energy and environmental politics. Leah Stokes, assistant professor of political science at the University of California, Santa Barbara, discusses the outsized role of special interests in shaping debate around clean energy and in defining policies to address the environmental and climate impacts of our energy system.In March, Stokes published her first book, Short Circuiting Policy: Interest Groups and the Battle Over Clean Energy and Climate Policy in the United States, the culmination of six years of research into special interest groups. Stokes shares her findings, including and strategies to overcome opposition to progressive energy policies, in conversation.Related Content When Emissions Reductions Aren’t Sustainable. https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2020/04/15/when-emission-reductions-arent-sustainableEnergy Transitions Are Brown Before They Go Green  https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/energy-transitions-are-brown-they-go-green Wind Developers Pressured by Pandemic Concerns and 2020 PTC Deadlines https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2020/04/09/wind-developers-pressured-pandemic-concerns-2020-ptc-deadlinesChanging Tides: Public Attitudes on Climate Change and Climate Migration  https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/changing-tidesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The residential solar power industry faces the expiration of a key tax break and resistance to net-metering. But the addition of battery storage, and an emerging role in grid services, make solar a valuable tool for grid resiliency.---Last year, solar power accounted for 40 percent of new electric generating capacity additions in the U.S. Yet the industry faces a number of challenges, including the ending of federal incentives for solar projects and an uncertain future for net metering, both of which have been instrumental in the industry’s growth. The coronavirus will also impact solar adoption as consumers and businesses focus their attention elsewhere.  Anne Hoskins, head of federal and state policy at Sunrun, the nation’s largest residential solar power company, discusses the industry’s challenges and grounds for optimism, including solar power’s role in addressing the challenge of grid resiliency, particularly where emerging climate impacts are placing unprecedented demands on the electricity system.Anne Hoskins is chief policy officer at Sunrun.Related ContentEnergy Transitions are Brown Before They Go Green https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/energy-transitions-are-brown-they-go-greenWind Developers Pressured by Pandemic Concerns & 2020 PTC Deadlines https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2020/04/09/wind-developers-pressured-pandemic-concerns-2020-ptc-deadlinesThe Path Forward for Grid Electricity Storage https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/energy-policy-now/path-forward-grid-electricity-storageOne Year Later: Solar Energy in Philadelphia is Still on the Rise. https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2020/02/06/one-year-later-solar-energy-philadelphia-still-riseSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Energy projects bring economic opportunity, but host communities often suffer disproportionate health and environmental impacts. An expert in environmental regulation looks at community efforts to exert control over energy development.---Communities across the United States are coming into conflict with their state governments over where and how energy projects may be built. The issue has drawn attention in energy-rich states like Texas, where a half decade ago the state government introduced a law that prevented towns from limiting fracking within their jurisdiction. Conversely, last year in Colorado cities and towns gained power to regulate local energy development after a number of previous efforts to assert local authority had failed.The challenge isn’t confined to fossil fuels. On the renewable energy front, communities have opposed wind, solar and other projects that residents say could bring their own set of environmental problems.Hannah Wiseman, Dean for Environmental Programs at the Florida State University College of Law, discusses energy development turf wars and the often conflicting priorities of states and the cities and towns within their borders. She also discusses strategies that may help strike a balance between local health and environmental concerns and the larger economic and climate benefits that the development of new energy projects can bring.Hannah Wiseman is Professor and Associate Dean for Environmental Programs at the Florida State University College of Law. Her work focuses on the role that regulation plays in balancing energy development and environmental quality.Related Content Energy Transitions Are Brown Before They Go Green.  https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/energy-transitions-are-brown-they-go-greenA Preview of Key Energy Challenges for the 2020shttps://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2020/03/06/preview-key-energy-challenges-2020sSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.