Energy powers the modern world, fueling innovation and improving people’s lives. But humanity’s energy usage is also generating levels of pollution that are substantially shortening human lifespans and causing disruptive climate change. Finding a way to supply the energy needed for human development without risking health or the environment is one of the world’s most important challenges: the Global Energy Challenge.

To promote and discuss current research on these issues, the Kenneth C. Griffin Applied Economics Incubator and the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC) hosted a series of academic conferences on each component of the Global Energy Challenge: energy access and markets, air pollution, and climate change.

Counting the Costs & Addressing the Impacts of Climate Change

Climate change is arguably the world’s most vital challenge. This conference will assess its impacts, quantify its costs, and help to identify an efficient and equitable policies to reduce emissions and adapt to a changing world.

Agenda

Friday, May 6, 2022

8:00 am–9:00 am

Breakfast

9:00 am–10:30 am

Session 1: Evaluating the Costs of Climate Change

  • Ishan Nath, Ian Bolliger, Tamma Carleton, Michael Delgado, Michael Greenstone, Trevor Houser, Solomon Hsiang, Andrew Hultgren, Amir Jina, Robert Kopp, Kelly McCusker, James Rising, Ashwin Rode, “The Welfare Economics of a Data-Driven Social Cost of Carbon”
  • Sushant Banjara, Greg Dwyer, Eyal Frank, and Andrew Liebhold, “The Economic Costs of Climate Change From Ecosystem Disruptions: Evidence From Forest Defoliation Outbreaks in the United States”
10:30 am–11:00 am

Break

11:00 am–12:30 pm

Session 2: Emissions Regulation, Permit Allocation, and Clean Energy Standards

  • Guojun He, Yuhang Pan, and Yang Xie, “Carbon Trading vs. Direct Allocation Theory and Application to China’s Carbon Abatement”
  • Severin Borenstein and Ryan Kellogg, “Carbon Pricing, Clean Energy Standards, and Zero Emission Subsidies on the Path to Net Zero”

 

12:30 pm–1:30 pm

Lunch

1:30 pm–3:00 pm

Session 3: Adaptation

  • Fiona Burlig, Aaron Hrozencik, Louis Preonas, Matt Woerman, “Evidence of Climate Adaptation: Temperature and Groundwater Extraction in California Agriculture”
  • Judson Boomhower and Patrick Baylis, “Mandated vs. Voluntary Adaptation to Natural Disasters: The Case of U.S. Wildfires”
3:00 pm–3:30 pm

Break

3:30 pm–5:00 pm

Session 4: GHG Monitoring and Regulation

  • Mark Agerton and Ben Gilbert, “Ambient Pollution Mechanisms with Remote Sensing Technology: An Application to the Oil and Gas Industry”
  • Qiaoyi Chen, Zhao Chen, Zhikuo Lio, Juan Carlos Suarez Serrato, and Daniel Xu, “Regulating Conglomerates: Evidence from an Energy Conservation Program in China”
5:00 pm–7:00 pm

Cocktail Reception and Dinner

Areas of Focus: Climate Change
Definition
Climate Change
Climate change is an urgent global challenge. EPIC research is helping to assess its impacts, quantify its costs, and identify an efficient set of policies to reduce emissions and adapt...