There is growing impetus for a domestic U.S. climate policy that can provide meaningful reductions in emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases. I describe and analyze an up- stream, economy-wide CO2 cap-and-trade system which implements a gradual trajectory of emissions reductions (with...

The mining industry, through its extensive activities and prominent presence in developing countries, has strong linkages with issues covered in all 17 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These linkages are clearly set out in the 2016 Mapping Mining to the Sustainable Development...

Energy efficiency commitments, often associated with tradable energy efficiency certificates, dubbed white certificates, were recently implemented in the United Kingdom and Italy and will soon start in France. Energy suppliers have to fund a given quantity of energy efficiency measures, or to...

This article describes and evaluates the effectiveness of the Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save Act of 2009, also known as the “Cash for Clunkers” legislation. Under this law, Congress authorized persons trading in older and less fuel-efficient motor vehicles for newer and more...

Many new and ambitious energy efficiency and conservation laws are being enacted at all levels of government - and with greater financial incentives than provided previously. These innovations are intended to overcome or minimize market barriers such as principal-agent problems, information and...

This paper provides an overview of U.S. law and policy concerning energy efficiency and conservation. The United States appears torn between two narratives - one expressing the abundant demonstrated opportunities provided by energy savings and the other based on a fear of deprivation from using...

This paper presents the first empirical test of the green paradox hypothesis, according to which well-intended but imperfectly implemented policies may lead to detrimental environmental outcomes due to supply side responses. We use the introduction of the Acid Rain Program in the U.S. as a case...

The protection of federally owned wild lands, including, designated wilderness areas, has long been a cardinal element of the American character. For a variety of reasons, designating wild lands for protection under the Wilderness Act has proved difficult, increasingly so in recent years. Thus,...

Given that coal combustion is the largest source of carbon dioxide emissions in many countries, and against the background of more ambitious efforts to mitigate climate change since the adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015, coal mining and combustion have become increasingly contested. A...

Policy makers around the world are increasingly recognizing the need to drastically reduce methane emissions in parallel with carbon dioxide emissions. More than a hundred countries have signed the Global Methane Pledge and made a collective commitment to reduce global methane emissions by 30%...