Memos

Primer on GHG Regulation under the Clean Air Act: PSD, Title V, and NSPS

Over the next two years, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will phase in greenhouse gas regulations for large stationary sources using three separate sections of the Clean Air Act: the Prevention of Significant Deterioration Permitting Program, the Title V Permitting Program and the New Source Performance Standards. This memo provides a general overview of these regulatory approaches and their application to greenhouse gas emissions.

 

Author(s): Brooks Rainey Pearson and Jonas Monast

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Climate & Energy

Clean Air Act

Policy and Design

Memos

Conquering Cost: Optimal Policy Approaches to the Cost of Climate Change Workshop Briefing Memo

Last month, the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed a wide-ranging energy and climate bill with the first-ever greenhouse gas cap-and-trade measure to emerge from that chamber. The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 sets a cap that covers about 85 percent of U.S. total greenhouse gas emissions and virtually all emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels. Costs of complying with the bill were at the center of the House debate, in large part due to lingering concerns about the state of the economy. As the Senate now considers comparable efforts to pass comprehensive energy and climate legislation, cost concerns will remain critical and if they are not dealt effectively, threaten to stall legislation.

Author(s): Jan Mazurek, Brian C. Murray, and Lydia P. Olander

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Climate & Energy

Environmental Economics

Memos

Memo on H.R. 2454: Targets and Timetables

Will climate legislation stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations at a level adequate to prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system? That's the key question for all climate. Future U.S. emissions reductions are only a piece of the puzzle. The success of the program depends on whether other nations want to pursue equivalent reductions.

 

Author(s): Tim Profeta and Prasad Kasibhatla

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Climate & Energy

Environmental Economics

Memos

Protecting Energy-Intensive Trade-Exposed Industry

This memo focuses on H.R. 2454's allocation program for energy-intensive, trade-exposed (EITE) producers, which distributes allowances to affected entities based on production output. This memo seeks to clarify what is a complex system for both defining eligible industrial sectors and determining the amount of allowances for distribution to individual entities. It also highlights several areas where the program, as it is currently written, can be modified, particularly as it pertains to hard-to-define, heterogeneous manufacturing sectors.

Author(s): Joshua Schneck, Brian Murray, Jan Mazurek, and Gale Boyd

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Climate & Energy

Memos

Addressing Uncertainty in Investment in Initial Offsets Projects

This memo examines the options for addressing concerns that sufficient offset supply will not be available at the outset of the cap-and-trade program. We discuss the treatment of offset projects in the American Clean Energy and Security Act (H.R. 2454) and offer ideas on how the provisions could be altered to address these concerns.

 

 
 
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Author(s): Lydia Olander, David Cooley, Brian Murray, and Jan Mazurek

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Climate & Energy

Ecosystem Services

Memos

U.S. Government Funding for Forests in Developing Countries and the New REDD+ Landscape

The U.S. has long been involved in tropical forest conservation, through both bilateral and multilateral initiatives. The U.S. Congress in currently considering climate legislation that would establish programs to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation and conserve and restore forests in developing countries. If adopted, these programs would dramatically increase U.S. government assistance for tropical forest conservation and sustainable development. Climate legislation currently under debate would increase U.S. bilateral funding for forests in developing countries by an estimated $18-$25 billion per year, raising it to unprecedented levels. This memo provides an overview of current U.S. funding levels for forests in developing countries and potential increases in these levels due to new climate policies. These numbers are put in the context of overall global finance for forests in developing countries and other emerging REDD+ initiatives. 

 

 

Author(s): Kathleen Lawlor and Lydia Olander

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Climate & Energy

Policy and Design

Ecosystem Services

Environmental Economics

International

Memos

Financing for International Adaptation in S. 1733 and H.R. 2454

Senate bill S. 1733, the "Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act of 2009," sponsored by Sens. Kerry and Boxer, is similar to the counterpart bill in the House, H.R> 2454. With regard to funding for internatioal adaptation, there are some differences in the percentages of allowances allocated, as well as differences in the estimated value of emission allowances under the two bills. For the period 2012-2030, total funding for international adaptation is slightly higher in S. 1733 than in H.R. 2454, with an additional $1.39 billion set aside. This memo summarizes the key differences between the two bills and provides a dollar estimate of allowances reserved for international adaptation in S. 1733 for the years 2012-2030.

 

Author(s): Joshua Schneck

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Climate & Energy

Memos

Principles for Marine Spatial Planning: Outcomes of the Ocean Industries MSP Policy Labs

Duke University's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions and Meridian Institute have been following the work of the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force with great interest. We look forward to the Task Force's recommendations to President Obama regarding a national ocean policy to improve the management of our oceans, coasts and Great Lakes. One important element of that policy will be the Task Force response to President Obama's call for a framework for coastal and marine spatial planning.

 

Author(s): Laura Cantral, Larry Crowder, Morgan Gopnik, Linwood Pendleton

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Oceans & Coasts

Memos

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