Publications
Designing Cap and Trade to Account for "Imperfect" Offsets
September 2010 - by Brian C. Murray and W. Aaron Jenkins
The use of offsets can potentially improve a cap-and-trade system by lowering the overall cost of compliance, encourage mitigation from outside of the cap, and function as a bridge strategy, giving the regulated sectors time to innovate new low-carbon technologies and business plans. But offset provisions can be imperfect, and decision makers must appreciate the implications of these flaws and design the national offset program accordingly. This paper discusses three policy options for addressing offset integrity issues that can cause effective aggregate abatement to fall below the optimum level set by a compliance cap, and assesses the efficiency and welfare implications—for offset buyers and suppliers—of these policy options.
The Potential Role for Management of Public Lands in Greenhouse Gas Mitigation and Climate Policy
August 2010 - by Lydia Olander, David Cooley, Christopher Galik
Public lands, including federal and state lands, offer significant opportunities for increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation from the management and restoration of forests, rangelands, and wetlands. This paper provides a rough estimate of the potential mitigation opportunities from public lands, including near-term sequestration generated from an elimination of timber harvests in public forests and improving management of some rangelands. It also presents policy options that decision makers and land managers can pursue to increase mitigation on public lands. This is a revised version of a paper that was published in July 2010.
The Effects of Low-Carbon Policies on Net Farm Income
February 2010 - by Justin S. Baker, Bruce A. McCarl, Brian C. Murray, Steven K. Rose, Ralph J. Alig, Darius Adams, Greg Latta, Robert Beach, Adam Daigneault
Policy Options for Transitioning from Voluntary to Federal Offsets Markets
January 2010 - by Lydia Olander, David Cooley and Brian Murray
Nicholas Institute Discussion Brief on H.R. 2454, S. 1733, and S.2729
Sticking Points in Offsets Policy
January 2010 - by Lydia Olander, Tim Profeta, and Christopher Galik
Nicholas Institute Discussion Memo
Addressing Uncertainty in Investment in Initial Offsets Projects
October 2009 - by Lydia Olander, David Cooley, Brian Murray, and Jan Mazurek
The Effects of Performance Standards on Offsets Supply Under H.R. 2454
August 2009 - by David Cooley, Lydia Olander, Brian Murray
Nicholas Institute Discussion Memo on H.R. 2454 American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009
The Economics of Offsets in a Greenhouse Gas Compliance Market
July 2009 - by Brian C. Murray and W. Aaron Jenkins
Mitigation Beyond the Cap: A Series of Briefs on Expanding Climate Mitigation Opportunities
Addressing Leakage in a Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Offsets Program for Forestry and Agriculture
April 2009 - by Aaron Jenkins, Lydia Olander and Brian Murray
Mitigation Beyond the Cap: A Series of Briefs on Expanding Climate Mitigation Opportunities
Addressing Impermanence Risk and Liability in Agriculture, Land Use Change, and Forest Carbon Projects
October 2008 - by Brian Murray and Lydia Olander
Mitigation Beyond the Cap: A Series of Briefs on Expanding Climate Mitigation Opportunities
Treatment of Early Agricultural and Forestry Actors in a Federal Cap-and-Trade
October 2008 - by Lydia Olander, Brian Murray
Mitigation Beyond the Cap: A Series of Briefs on Expanding Climate Mitigation Opportunities
Offsets: An Important Piece of the Climate Policy Puzzle
August 2008 - by Lydia Olander, Brian Murray
Mitigation Beyond the Cap: A Series of Briefs on Expanding Climate Mitigation Opportunities
Document Actions
How Might Carbon Prices and Energy Costs Affect Returns to Agricultural Producers?
May 2009 - by Brian Murray, Bruce A. McCarl and Justin Baker