Last Friday’s passage of the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 by the House represents a significant step forward for U.S. domestic energy and climate policy—the first time either house of Congress has agreed to a cap on greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, the bill’s supplemental reductions and financing provisions give it a powerful international reach that will support United States participation in global climate talks as the world gathers at key summits over the next ...[Read More]

  By a vote of 219 to 212 (proponents notching just one more vote than a simple majority) the U.S. House Friday approved the American Clean Energy and Security Act, legislation that would implement a cap-and-trade system to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Debate of the bill had shown that along with party-line splits, the fate of climate legislation in the House relied on overcoming regional differences. Members generally kept with party rank, with the notable exceptions of eight Republicans ...[Read More]

  After exploring some of the key questions in Waxman-Markey’s tropical conservation provisions here, Andrew teamed with RFF’s Nigel Purvis and Ray Kopp to write this issue brief proposing the creation of a new U.S. regulatory entity to the administration of international forest carbon offset program.   According to authors, “Existing federal agencies are ill‐equipped to manage new programs in ways that produce genuine climate change benefits, reduce the cost of climate action for the Uni ...[Read More]

  Climate change is expected to have particularly devastating effects on marine and coastal resources as temperatures and sea levels rise. These environmental changes could lead to ecological impacts like coral bleaching, species invasion, changes in biodiversity, and reduced biological productivity.   Adapting to changing oceans remain a key concern for members of the international community (especially small island nations) as well as domestic policymakers.   In "An Adaptation P ...[Read More]

Catchphrases, however tiresome their proliferation, can alert us to important issues.  Take "carbon footprint,” an idea now routinely mentioned in corporate ads, political discourse, and environmental advocacy.  Recently a new and very important addition to the catchphrase glossary—life-cycle analysis—has morphed from academic writing to climate policy concerns. Indeed it is embodied in a number of current legislative proposals—among them the Waxman-Markey energy bill. The concept, in pri ...[Read More]

  Free allocation of allowance value to electricity local distribution companies (LDCs) could offset the lion’s share of the increase in electricity prices that would otherwise arise under a cap-and-trade program. However, the ultimate effect on households is uncertain: Does free distribution to LDCs make households better or worse off compared to other approaches to compensation?   To consider this question we examined three compensation options using detailed electricity market modeling ...[Read More]

Climate change is underway in the United States and expected to continue with far-reaching effects if unmitigated—from thawing Alaskan permafrost, to declining air quality in the Northeast, to rising sea levels encroaching on Pacific Island regions—according to a new report from the U.S. Global Climate Research Program. (Key findings here) “Global Change Impacts in the United States,” explores possible impacts explores global climate change on specific U.S. regions and sectors, including hu ...[Read More]

Not surprisingly, the Obama administration has revived the planning process for FutureGen, a demonstration project to generate electricity with coal but without carbon emissions into the atmosphere.  Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced late last week a restart of work on engineering design and on a funding plan. He said that he foresees a final decision early next year on whether to proceed with construction. FutureGen is a partnership between the federal government and a consortium of lar ...[Read More]

 As the American Clean Energy and Security Act makes its way through the House Agriculture and Ways and Means Committees, offsets continue to crop up as a major point of contention. While understanding of offset markets matures, RFF continues to identify and address important economic and logistical issues of concern. Last month, RFF hosted a joint workshop with the EPA entitled “Modeling the Costs and Volumes of GHG Offsets.” Experts in forest, non-CO2 gas, and agriculture offsets came gat ...[Read More]

Today marks the end of the latest round of climate negotiations under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Bonn, Germany. The talks over the past two weeks marked the shift from largely theoretical debates on key climate issues including emissions targets, developing country commitments, technology transfer, and adaptation to concrete text. The formal negotiations included a reading of the draft negotiating text for a successor to the Kyoto Protocol. {Text in brackets li ...[Read More]