President Barack Obama, accompanied by Energy Secretary Steven Chu, delivers remarks on the Waxman-Markey bill, June 29, 2009, in the Grand Foyer of the White House.
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National Climate Change Policy: A Quick Look Back at Waxman-Markey and the Road Ahead
Harvard Project Director
Robert N. Stavins says "With some exceptions, the bill's cap‑and‑trade system will achieve meaningful reductions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions at minimal cost to the economy" in his most recent blog posting.
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June 16, 2009
Harvard Project Participants Join Obama Administration
By Robert C. Stowe, Executive Director, Harvard Environmental Economics Program; Manager, Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements
A number of individuals associated with the Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements have received appointments in the administration of President Barack Obama. The Project's former Co-Director, Joseph Aldy, is now Special Assistant to the President for Energy and the Environment, reporting to Carol Browner and Lawrence Summers. (Ms. Browner is Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change.) Professor Summers (on leave from Harvard) himself was a member of the Harvard Project's Faculty Steering Committee before becoming Director of the National Economic Council in the White House and Assistant to the President for Economic Policy. Jody Freeman, also a former member of the Harvard Project's Faculty Steering Committee and a Harvard Law School Professor (on leave of absence), is now Counselor for Energy and Climate in the White House, reporting to Carol Browner.
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June 4, 2009
Bonn Climate Negotiations: From the Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements
By Sasha Talcott, Director of Communications and Outreach and Robert C. Stowe, Executive Director, Harvard Environmental Economics Program; Manager, Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements
The current negotiations in Bonn, Germany, mark a major step on the road to the next international climate agreement. With the negotiating text now being discussed, the Harvard Project has a wide array of research papers and policy ideas, each condensed into a two-page summary, which may be useful to those working on these issues. We have chosen to highlight some of those most relevant to the Bonn negotiating agenda.
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May 20, 2009
"Obama's Fuel-Efficiency Plan? Not So Efficient"
NPR.org
By Robert N. Stavins, Albert Pratt Professor of Business and Government; Member of the Board; Director, Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements
"Because CAFE standards increase the price of new cars, the standards have the unintentional effect of keeping older — dirtier and less fuel-efficient — cars on the road longer. This is counterproductive.
Also, by decreasing the cost per mile of driving, CAFE standards — like any energy-efficiency technology standard — exhibit a rebound effect — namely, people have an incentive to drive more, not less, thereby lessening the anticipated reduction in gasoline usage."
Photo by Lindsay Lecky
May 18, 2009
"New York Business Roundtable: Key Takeaways"
By Sasha Talcott, Director of Communications and Outreach
With the U.S. Congress currently debating whether and how to establish a domestic cap-and-trade system to address climate change, the outcome of those discussions is critical to global climate negotiations in Copenhagen and beyond, according to a roundtable discussion on post-Kyoto climate policy hosted by Barclays Capital on April 30, 2009, with insights from the Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements.
The business roundtable in New York, which included participants from a range of industries and key government officials, looked at the implications of U.S. domestic climate policy for the international process, the current state of the Waxman-Markey bill in the U.S. Congress, and the future of national and global carbon markets.
Photo by Robert C. Stowe
May 13, 2009
"Robert Stavins Named to the Energy and Environmental Markets Advisory Committee at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission"
By Robert N. Stavins, Albert Pratt Professor of Business and Government; Member of the Board; Director, Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements
Robert Stavins, Albert Pratt Professor of Business and Government at Harvard Kennedy School and a member of the Board of Directors at the school's Belfer Center, has been appointed to a new position in the Energy and Environmental Markets Advisory Committee at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Forthcoming August 2009
Post-Kyoto International Climate Policy: Summary for Policymakers
By Joseph Aldy, Former Co-Director, Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements and Robert N. Stavins, Albert Pratt Professor of Business and Government; Member of the Board; Director, Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements
This volume is a highly topical contribution to climate policy debates that searches for a new treaty to succeed Kyoto when it expires in 2012. The Harvard Project is entirely non-partisan and is the world's most comprehensive and authoritative study of all aspects of climate policy whose advice is sought by the UN and national governments. Distils key findings from the Harvard Project into an easy reference for policymakers, journalists, climate activists, and amateurs with an interest in climate policy.
April 2009
"Global Environment and Trade Policy"
By Jeffrey Frankel, James W. Harpel Professor of Capital Formation and Growth
Global environmental goals and trade goals can be reconciled. Globalization and multilateral institutions can facilitate environmental protection rather than obstruct it, if they are harnessed in the right way. Perhaps most urgent is that negotiators working on a sequel to the Kyoto Protocol agree on guidelines to govern precisely how individual countries can and cannot use trade measures in pursuit of carbon mitigation.
