Marc Hafstead
Fellow; Director, Carbon Pricing Initiative
Marc Hafstead is a fellow at Resources for the Future (RFF) and Director of RFF’s Carbon Pricing Initiative. He joined RFF in 2013 from Stanford University, where he received his PhD in 2011 and then spent two years as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. His research primarily focuses on the evaluation and design of climate and energy policies. With Stanford Professor and RFF University Fellow Lawrence H. Goulder, he wrote Confronting the Climate Challenge: US Policy Options (Columbia University Press) to evaluate the environmental and economic impacts of carbon taxes, cap-and-trade programs, clean energy standards, and gasoline taxes using a sophisticated multi-sector model of the United States. His research on economy-wide and sector-specific climate and energy policy also analyzes the distributional and employment impacts of carbon pricing (and the energy transition, more broadly), the design of tax adjustment mechanisms to reduce the emissions uncertainty of carbon tax policies, and state-level climate policies such as Cap-and-Invest in states such as California, Washington, New York, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, and Maryland.
More recently, Dr. Hafstead’s research has focused on questions related to industrial decarbonization, including comparing different modeling approaches, addressing deficiencies in data availability, addressing how to account for the emissions intensity of industrial products, and product-based intensity standards.
Education
- PhD in Economics, Stanford University, 2011
- BA in Mathematical Methods in the Social Sciences & Economics, Northwestern University, 2004
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Elements of a Cap-and-Invest Program Design for Maryland
This presentation-style report outlines policy options for designing a cap-and-invest program in the state of Maryland.
Improving Industrial Data: Status and Future Directions
This report highlights analyses to inform investment and strategy decisions, unlocking greater prosperity in the US industrial manufacturing sector while also identifying gaps in industrial data.
Modeling the Labor Implications of the Energy Transition
This paper models the labor-market impacts of the energy transition—in particular, using ex-ante modeling methods.
The Future of Biofuels: Role of Policy in Biofuel Adoption
Join RFF for the next installment in our biofuels webinar series, featuring an expert panel that will explore biofuels policies and how they can be designed to best meet environmental and economic goals.
Elements of a Cap-and-Invest Program Design for Maryland
This presentation-style report outlines policy options for designing a cap-and-invest program in the state of Maryland.
Improving Industrial Data: Status and Future Directions
This report highlights analyses to inform investment and strategy decisions, unlocking greater prosperity in the US industrial manufacturing sector while also identifying gaps in industrial data.
Modeling the Labor Implications of the Energy Transition
This paper models the labor-market impacts of the energy transition—in particular, using ex-ante modeling methods.
Clean Steelmaking: Transitioning to a Low-Carbon Future
This paper presents a cost-minimizing model for low-carbon steel production using electric arc furnace technology, emphasizing material quality, emissions limits, and the role of policy in supporting cleaner methods for steel production.
The Future of Biofuels: Role of Policy in Biofuel Adoption
Join RFF for the next installment in our biofuels webinar series, featuring an expert panel that will explore biofuels policies and how they can be designed to best meet environmental and economic goals.
The Future of Carbon Pricing: Policy in Action
A review of trends and trajectories in carbon pricing around the world
US Climate Ambition in 2030: Insights from Recent Modeling
US Climate Ambition in 2030: Insights from Recent Modeling
The Future of Carbon Pricing: 2020 and Beyond
The Future of Carbon Pricing: 2020 and Beyond
In Focus: Addressing the Cost of Greenhouse Gas Emissions
This video shares insights about a climate policy known as carbon pricing, along with real-world examples of carbon pricing, with RFF Fellow Marc Hafstead.
Modeling Deep Decarbonization in the Industrial Sector: Opportunities and Challenges for Modelers and Policymakers
Decarbonizing the industrial sector is a growing priority. To help produce models with high-quality data that inform policy, transparency and dialogue should be fostered among modeling colleagues, policymakers, and the modeling community.
Verification Standards for Carbon Offsets: Breaking Down the New Proposed Guidance
In this Q&A, Alex Rau of Environmental Commodity Partners discusses new proposed guidance for verifying the quality of carbon offsets, the implications for voluntary carbon markets, and what the verification standards will look like for offsets.
Bill That Would Help Track Emissions Associated with Traded Goods Receives Bipartisan Support
A new bill passed recently by a US Senate committee would require the federal government to study the greenhouse gas emissions associated with products from selected industries and US trade partners.
RFF Adopts the Pricing Carbon Initiative
Resources for the Future will absorb the Pricing Carbon Initiative, a Washington, DC–based organization that hosts dialogues on carbon pricing policies.
RFF Fellow Marc Hafstead and University Fellow Lawrence Goulder Receive Award for Best Paper
RFF Fellow Marc Hafstead and University Fellow Lawrence Goulder Receive Award for Best Paper
US Climate Commitments Abroad Thrown into Confusion
RFF scholars Billy Pizer and Marc Hafstead are quoted in an E&E News article about the international implications of the Build Back Better Act’s roadblock.
Will ‘Green Energy’ Produce More Jobs? Three Experts Discuss
Will ‘Green Energy’ Produce More Jobs? Three Experts Discuss