AIR POLLUTION
September 2009
Post-Kyoto International Climate Policy: Summary for Policymakers
Book
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 offers options, based on cutting-edge social-science research, for an international climate change regime to succeed the Kyoto Protocol when it expires in 2012. It distils key findings from the Harvard Project into an easy reference for policymakers, journalists, and stakeholders.
August 2006
The World Energy Book
Book
Section 1 : Contents and World Overview
Section 2 : North America
Section 3 : Latin America and the Caribbean
Section 4 : Energy Statistics; Electricity usage per capita; Coal and Electricity usage per capita; Oil and Gas usage per capita; Coal, Electricity, Oil and Gas output
May 2006
China Shifts Gears: Automakers, Oil, Pollution, and Development
Book
By Kelly Sims Gallagher, Senior Associate, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group
In China Shifts Gears, Kelly Sims Gallagher identifies an unprecedented opportunity for China to "shift gears" and avoid the usual problems associated with the automobile industry while spurring economic development.
2005
Environmental Protection and the Social Responsibility of Firms
Book
By Robert N. Stavins, Albert Pratt Professor of Business and Government; Member of the Board; Director, Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements, Bruce L. Hay and Richard H. K. Vietor, Steering Committee Member, Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements
| Everyone agrees that firms should obey the law. But beyond what the law requires—beyond bare compliance with regulations—do firms have additional social responsibilities to commit resources voluntarily to environmental protection? How should we think about firms sacrificing profits in the social interest? Are they permitted to do so, given their fiduciary responsibilities to their shareholders? Even if permissible, is the practice sustainable, or will the competitive marketplace render such efforts and their impacts transient at best? Furthermore, is the practice, however well intended, an efficient use of social and economic resources? And, as an empirical matter, to what extent do firms already behave this way? | ||
| Until now, public discussion has generated more heat than light on both the normative and positive questions surrounding corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the environmental realm. In Environmental Protection and the Social Responsibility of Firms, some of the nation’s leading scholars in law, economics, and business examine commonly accepted assumptions at the heart of current debates on corporate social responsibility and provide a foundation for future research and policymaking. |
December 30, 2004
Political Economy of Environmental Regulation
Book
By Robert N. Stavins, Albert Pratt Professor of Business and Government; Member of the Board; Director, Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements
The Political Economy of Environmental Regulation is a new authoritative collection comprised of previously published papers: economic analyses of the processes through which political decisions regarding environmental regulation are made, principally in the institutional context found in the United States. Despite this geographic focus, many of the papers contain analytical models that are methodologically of interest and/or have lessons that are relevant in other parts of the world.
In the environmental realm, questions of political economy emerge along three fundamental dimensions, which are closely interrelated but conceptually distinct: (1) the degrees of government activity; (2) the form of government activity; and (3) the level of government that has responsibility. The first three parts of the book deal respectively with these three fundamental dimensions of inquiry. The fourth part of the book examines the use of economic analysis in contemporary environmental policy.
The Political Economy of Environmental Regulation will be of significant interest to environmental scholars, students and policy makers alike.
Fall 2006
"CCS: Research is Not Enough"
Book Chapter, volume 2
By Jennie Stephens, Associate, Energy Technology Innovation Policy
Governments and industry face a dilemma: how to reconcile increased energy demand with the need to reduce atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) offers a means of reducing pollution from coal-fired power generation.
July 2005
"Providing Low-Sulfur Fuels for Transportation Use: Policy Options and Financing Strategies in the Chinese Context"
Conference Paper
By Kelly Sims Gallagher, Senior Associate, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group and Hongyan He Oliver, Former Research Fellow, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group, 2004-2009
This short paper is intended to outline the primary policy options available to the Chinese government to ensure that low-sulfur fuels become widely available in China to provide cleaner air and the ability to deploy more advanced vehicle technology.
AP Photo
March 2009
"In-use Vehicle Emissions in China: Beijing Study"
Discussion Paper
By Hongyan He Oliver, Former Research Fellow, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group, 2004-2009, Kelly Sims Gallagher, Senior Associate, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group, Mengliang Li, Kongjian Qin, Jianwei Zhang, Huan Li and Kebin He
China's economic boom in the last three decades has spurred increasing demand for transportation services and personal mobility. Consequently, vehicle population has grown rapidly since the early 1990s, especially in megacities such as Beijing, Guangzhou, and Tianjin. As a result, mobile sources have become more conspicuous contributors to urban air pollution in Chinese cities.
Tianjin was our first focus city, and the study there took us about two years to complete. Building upon the experience and partnership generated through the Tianjin study, the research team carried out the Beijing study from fall 2007–fall 2008.
Beijing was chosen to be our second focus city for several reasons: it has the largest local fleet and the highest percentage of the population owning vehicles among all Chinese cities, and it has suffered from severe air pollution, partially due to the ever-growing population of on-road vehicles.
March 2009
"China's Fuel Economy Standards for Passenger Vehicles: Rationale, Policy Process, and Impacts"
Discussion Paper
By Hongyan He Oliver, Former Research Fellow, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group, 2004-2009, Kelly Sims Gallagher, Senior Associate, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group, Donglian Tian and Jinhua Zhang
This paper describes the Chinese experience in adopting fuel economy standards for vehicles. The lessons from China that are described in this paper can be highly relevant for countries that are experiencing or anticipating rapid growth in personal vehicles, those wishing to moderate an increase in oil demand, or those desirous of vehicle technology upgrades.
AP Photo
October 2008
"In-Use Vehicle Emissions in China — Tianjin Study"
Discussion Paper
By Hongyan He Oliver, Former Research Fellow, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group, 2004-2009
From March 2005–December 2006, a research team headed by ETIP carried out a project in Tianjin, China, to study emissions from on-road vehicles.
