By Nathanael Massey

Under the Obama administration’s proposed rule for power-sector carbon emissions, states are given wide latitude in charting their paths to compliance. The plan’s flexibility is one of its cardinal selling points— although U.S. EPA may set state-specific targets, it’s up to the states themselves to decide how to get there.

As a result, the process could result in as many different approaches to carbon reduction as there are states covered under the rule.

But weighing in on the Clean Power Plan (CPP) in the journal Science last week, a group of the nation’s leading carbon economists had this advice for states: If you want to reduce emissions cheaply, you’ll need to work together.

Ideally, states will opt to coordinate their approaches through regional carbon markets, said co-author Michael Greenstone, a former Obama adviser now with the University of Chicago.

“While the EPA has allowed states to achieve emissions reductions through multiple approaches [in the CPP], the best way to minimize costs and facilitate economic growth is by joining regional trading programs,” he said. “Even better would be if all states joined in the same trading market.

“EPA should do everything possible to encourage all states to join together in a single market,” he added.

Continue reading at Scientific American…

Continue reading

 

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...
Climate Economics
Definition
Climate Economics
Climate change will affect every sector of the economy, both locally and globally. EPIC research is quantifying these effects to help guide policymakers, businesses, and individuals working to mitigate and...
Climate Law & Policy
Definition
Climate Law & Policy
As countries around the world implement policies to confront climate change, EPIC research is calculating which policies will have the most impact for the least cost.