with Brian Prest

Concerns about climate change have led to calls for reforming or eliminating the extensive US federal fossil fuel leasing program. One proposed reform is adding a climate surcharge to the existing royalty rate, but what precisely that surcharge should be is unclear. We consider determining this surcharge by maximizing revenue, maximizing welfare, or setting royalties to achieve 80% of the emissions reductions of an outright leasing ban. We estimate that all three approaches would lead to meaningful declines in global emissions, and the first two would substantially increase royalty receipts, which are split with the state of production.