Henry Lee

April, 1995

Shaping National Responses to Climate Change: A Post Rio Guide

Book

By Henry Lee, Director, Environment and Natural Resources Program

May 2009

"Oil Security and the Transportation Sector"

Book Chapter

By Henry Lee, Director, Environment and Natural Resources Program

"This chapter proposes to answer five fundamental questions: What exactly is the oil security problem, and how serious is it going forward? Why has it emerged at this point in time, and why has it been so difficult for the U.S. government to take the actions needed to mitigate it? Finally, what alternative policies are likely to be effective as the United States attempts to improve its oil security in the future?"

AP Photo

October 2008

Searching for Oil: China's Oil Strategies in Africa

Book Chapter

By Henry Lee, Director, Environment and Natural Resources Program

Pressured by skyrocketing demand, Chinese oil companies have branched out across the globe seeking new oil supplies to feed the country’s economic growth. By 2006, China had made oil investments in almost every part of the world, including Africa.

U.S. Climate Change Policy: Factors and Constraints

Book Chapter

By Henry Lee, Director, Environment and Natural Resources Program

AP Photo/Jae C. Hong

July 2012

North American Oil and Gas Reserves: Prospects and Policy

Discussion Paper

By Jonathan Bailey and Henry Lee, Director, Environment and Natural Resources Program

Expanding estimates of North America’s supply of accessible shale gas, and more recently, shale oil, have been trumpeted in many circles as the most significant energy resource development since the oil boom in Texas in the late 1920s. How large are these resources? What challenges will need to be overcome if their potential is to be realized? How will they impact U.S. energy policy?

To address these questions, the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and two of its programs ― the Environment and Natural Resources Program and the Geopolitics of Energy Project ― convened a group of experts from business, government, and academia on May 1, 2012, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The following report summarizes the major issues discussed at this workshop. Since the discussions were off-the-record, no comments are attributed to any individual. Rather, this report attempts to summarize the arguments on all sides of the issues.

AP Photo

July 2011

"Will Electric Cars Transform the U.S. Vehicle Market?"

Discussion Paper

By Henry Lee, Director, Environment and Natural Resources Program and Grant Lovellette

For the past forty years, United States Presidents have repeatedly called for a reduction in the country's dependence on fossil fuels in general and foreign oil specifically. Some officials advocate the electrification of the passenger vehicle fleet as a path to meeting this goal. The Obama administration has embraced a goal of having one million electric-powered vehicles on U.S. roads by 2015, while others proposed a medium-term goal where electric vehicles would consist of 20% of the passenger vehicle fleet by 2030 — approximately 30 million electric vehicles. The technology itself is not in question; many of the global automobile companies are planning to sell plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and/or battery electric vehicles (BEVs) by 2012. The key question is, will Americans buy them?

September 2010

"Transportation Revenue Options: Infrastructure, Emissions, and Congestion"

Discussion Paper

By Henry Lee, Director, Environment and Natural Resources Program, Jose Gomez-Ibanez, Professor of Public Policy and Urban Planning; Faculty Affiliate, Environment and Natural Resources Program, C. Edward Huang, Former Research Fellow, Environment and Natural Resources Program/Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group, 2009–2010 and Grant Lovellette

The report is a summary of the discussions from a workshop on "Transportation Revenue Options" convened by the Belfer Center in May 2010. The workshop brought together 27 transportation experts for a two-day workshop to discuss three broad revenue-generating options: higher fuel taxes — perhaps supplemented by a carbon tax; fees collected based on vehicle miles traveled (VMT); and congestion fees on major roadways.

June 2009

"Biofuels and Certification"

Discussion Paper

By Henry Lee, Director, Environment and Natural Resources Program and Charan Devereaux

Liquid biofuels can provide a substitute for fossil fuels in the transportation sector. Many countries have mandated the use of biofuels, by creating targets for their use. If not implemented with care, however, actions that increase biofuel production can put upward pressure on food prices, increase greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and exacerbate degradation of land, forest, and water sources. A strong global biofuels industry will not emerge unless these environmental and social concerns are addressed.

Summer 2007

"Policy Options for Reducing Oil Consumption and Greenhouse-Gas Emissions from the U.S. Transportation Sector"

Discussion Paper

By Kelly Sims Gallagher, Senior Associate, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group, Gustavo Collantes, Former Research Fellow, Energy Technology Innovation Policy Research Group/Enviroment and Natural Resources Program, 2007-2008, John P. Holdren, Former Director and Faculty Chair, Science, Technology and Public Policy Program, Henry Lee, Director, Environment and Natural Resources Program and Robert Frosch, Senior Associate, Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program

The goal of this paper is to contribute to the current policy debate about how to effectively limit or reduce oil consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from the U.S. transportation sector.

January 2007

"Searching for Oil: China's Oil Initiatives in the Middle East"

Discussion Paper

By Henry Lee, Director, Environment and Natural Resources Program and Dan Shalmon

Explores China’s relationships with oil-producing countries in the Middle East and the possible geopolitical implications of its widening market reach.