POLICY INSTRUMENTS
Decades after the first wave of environmental regulation, policymakers now have many choices when seeking to address environmental problems. Until recently, command and control approaches like emission and technology standards, were the dominant regulatory strategies. Today, incentive-based approaches, like emission taxes and cap and trade programs, are widely accepted as effective regulatory approaches.
Incentive-based mechanisms remain a major orientation of Resources for the Future research, and applications include cap and trade programs for greenhouse gases and air pollutants, individual tradable quotas (ITQs) for fishery management, water quality trading, road pricing, pay-as-you-throw policies for solid waste, and fuel taxes, among many other examples. Additionally, RFF researchers have engaged in comparative analyses of the performance different regulatory strategies in a variety of settings. More recently, research has addressed alternative policy instruments like voluntary measures and public disclosure programs