ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Belfer Center
Summer 2009
"From the Director"
Newsletter Article, Belfer Center Newsletter
By Graham Allison, Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; Douglas Dillon Professor of Government; Faculty Chair, Dubai Initiative, Harvard Kennedy School
For a Center committed to advancing policy-relevant knowledge about the most important international challenges, the current avalanche of seemingly insurmountable challenges is a time of great excitement.
Belfer Center Photo
Summer 2009
"A Proposed Global Climate Policy Architecture"
Newsletter Article, Belfer Center Newsletter
By Jeffrey Frankel, James W. Harpel Professor of Capital Formation and Growth
A Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change will meet in Copenhagen in December to try to decide a successor regime to the Kyoto Protocol. This study offers a proposal that builds on the foundations of Kyoto, in that it accepts the framework of national targets for emissions and tradable permits. But it attempts to solve the most serious deficiencies of that agreement: the need for long-term targets, the absence of participation by the United States and developing countries, and the incentive for countries to fail to abide by their commitments. Although there are many ideas to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, the existing proposals are typically based on just one or two out of the following three factors: science (e.g., capping global concentrations at 450 ppm) or equity (equal emissions per capita across countries) or economics (weighing the economic costs of aggressive short-term cuts against the long-term environmental benefits). The plan for emissions reductions proposed in this paper is more practical because it is based heavily on politics, in addition to those three considerations.
Belfer Center Photo
Summer 2009
"Center Hosts U.S.-China Workshop on Clean Energy and Carbon Collection, Sequestration"
Newsletter Article, Belfer Center Newsletter
By Sasha Talcott, Director of Communications and Outreach
With both China and the United States relying heavily on coal for electricity, senior government officials from both countries have urged immediate action to push forward technology that would reduce carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired plants. They discussed possible actions at a high-level workshop in April jointly sponsored by the Belfer Center's Energy Technology Innovation Policy (ETIP) research group, China's Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Photo by Eliza Grinnell, Harvard University
Summer 2009
"Spotlight with Venkatesh Narayanamurti"
Newsletter Article, Belfer Center Newsletter
By Sasha Talcott, Director of Communications and Outreach and Venkatesh "Venky" Narayanamurti, Benjamin Peirce Professor of Technology and Public Policy; Professor of Physics, Harvard; Director, Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program; Co-Principal Investigator, Energy Research, Development, Demonstration, and Deployment Policy Project
Venkatesh (Venky) Narayanamurti, is the new director of the Belfer Center's Science, Technology, and Public Policy program. He will be named the Benjamin Pierce Professor of Technology and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School in July.
Summer 2009
"Newsmakers"
Newsletter Article, Belfer Center Newsletter
By Sharon Wilke, Associate Director of Communications
Belfer Center Newsmakers.
AP Photo
May 20, 2009
"Obama's Fuel-Efficiency Plan? Not So Efficient"
Op-Ed, 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."
May 20, 2009
"Acting in Time on Energy Policy"
Policy Brief
By Kelly Sims Gallagher, Senior Associate, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group
This policy brief outlines urgent priorities for U.S. energy policy at the dawn of the Obama administration, and recommends specific steps that the U.S. government should take to address the numerous energy-related challenges facing the United States. It is based on the book, Acting in Time on Energy Policy (Brookings 2009), edited by Kelly Sims Gallagher, director of the Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group at the Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center.
We concentrate on six topics: climate change policy, carbon capture and storage policy, oil security policy, energy-technology innovation policy, electricity market structure, and infrastructure policy. The United States cannot afford to wait any longer to enact long-term policies on these topics. In fact, acting early is clearly in the longer-term interest of the United States.
Photo by Lindsay Lecky
May 18, 2009
"New York Business Roundtable: Key Takeaways"
Event Summary
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"
Press Release
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.
May 2009
"Electricity Market Structure and Infrastructure"
Book Chapter
By William Hogan, Raymond Plank Professor of Global Energy Policy
"Infrastructure investment is a common focus of energy policies proposed for the United States. Initiatives to improve energy security, meet growing demand, or address climate change and transform the structure of energy systems all anticipate major infrastructure investment. Long lead times and critical mass requirements for these investments present chicken-and-egg dilemmas. Without the necessary infrastructure investment, energy policy cannot take effect. And without sound policy, the right infrastructure will not appear. Acting in time to provide workable policies for infrastructure investment requires a framework for decisionmaking that identifies who decides and how choices should be made."
