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Obama's Speech on a U.S. Cap-and-Trade System and Global Climate Negotiations

Reaction from Robert N. Stavins of Harvard Kennedy School

In the News

November 20, 2008

Author: Robert N. Stavins, Albert Pratt Professor of Business and Government; Member of the Board; Director, Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements

Belfer Center Programs or Projects: Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements

Robert N. Stavins, Harvard Kennedy School professor and co-director of the Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements, offered the following reaction to President-Elect Barack Obama's speech on climate change which was delivered on Nov. 18, 2008.

He notes that President-Elect Obama's speech was very significant for several reasons:

• It seems to indicate that the Obama Administration plans to try for legislation establishing a U.S. cap-and-trade system right away, rather than waiting.
• President-Elect Obama calls for a cap-and-trade system with targets that are both sensible in the short term and ambitious in the long term: Reducing emissions to their 1990 levels by 2020 and reducing them by 80% by 2050.
• President-Elect Obama demonstrates that he plans to restore U.S. leadership in international negotiations on an agreement to succeed the Kyoto Protocol. This will be important step forward to the 2009 Conference of the Parties in Copenhagen, at which a global climate agreement will be negotiated. If the United States enters international negotiations with a strong domestic policy in hand, it will be even better positioned to play a leadership role in the global talks.

Stavins has written an oped which appeared in the Boston Globe that calls for a U.S. cap-and-trade system very similar to the one proposed by President-Elect Obama. It can be viewed here.

For more information about this publication please contact the Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements Coordinator at 617-496-8054.

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