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Blog Post
Nov 10, 2016
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Nathan Richardson
There will be plenty of time for deep thinking on the policy ramifications of last night’s surprising election result. Until then, here’s a quick summary of the likely impact of the Trump administration on climate and environmental policy.
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Blog Post
Nov 4, 2016
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David J. Hayes
President Obama has established important baseline policies that address key aspects of climate change. As we see more and more evidence of climate change and appreciate the urgency of the issue, however, it is becoming clear that the next president will need to devote additional attention to all aspects of this particular challenge.
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Blog Post
Nov 2, 2016
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Margaret A. Walls
A recent story in Outside magazine argued that it might be time to think about privatization of our national parks. With a deferred maintenance backlog that has ballooned to $12 billion, and difficulty prying the necessary funds from Congress in the annual appropriations process, everyone agrees that the parks are facing some serious financial and operational challenges.
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Blog Post
Oct 31, 2016
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Peter Nelson
As the November election rapidly approaches, a ballot proposal in Washington state (Initiative 732) that would establish the first carbon tax in the nation continues to garner attention.
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Blog Post
Oct 28, 2016
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Daniel Raimi
Western North Dakota is one of the most rural regions of the United States, and has experienced perhaps the most dramatic fiscal impacts of the shale revolution. Oil production from the Bakken and other “tight” formations peaked at more than 1.2 million barrels per day in late 2014, and impacts on city and county governments in the region is hard to overstate.
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Blog Post
Oct 27, 2016
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Peter Nelson
Last week, in the final presidential debate ahead of November’s election, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton commented that the United States would benefit from “an energy system that crosses borders.”
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Blog Post
Oct 24, 2016
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Joel Darmstadter
At an RFF seminar on October 5, 2016, panelists took up The Energy Crisis of the 1970s: Looking Back, Looking Ahead. The event featured the recently published book Panic at the Pump: The Energy Crisis and the Transformation of American Politics in the 1970s, by Princeton historian Meg Jacobs, who spoke at the seminar. In addition to a panel discussion of energy security and policy for research and development, RFF Senior Fellow Joel Darmstadter spoke to how the energy crisis of the 1970s spurred greater consideration of environmental challenges.
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Blog Post
Oct 21, 2016
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Peter Nelson
Regulators in California lifted a statewide order to cut water consumption by 25 percent earlier this year, although the drought continues. Across the state, there is widespread concern that the May action to ease the mandatory limit was premature.
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Blog Post
Oct 19, 2016
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Peter Nelson
In November, voters in Washington state will cast ballots on Initiative 732, which would establish the first tax on carbon emissions in the United States. As the election rapidly approaches, environmentalists have spoken out both for and against the initiative.
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Blog Post
Oct 17, 2016
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Marc Hafstead, Gilbert E. Metcalf, Roberton C. Williams III
US climate goals are often stated in terms of emissions targets. As part of the recently ratified Paris Agreement, the United States pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 26-28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025. A cap-and-trade program (which sets a cap on aggregate emissions, equal to the target, and allows market forces to set a price on emissions) would be an obvious mechanism to achieve this target (or other longer-term targets).
