AIR POLLUTION
July 2005
"Providing Low-Sulfur Fuels for Transportation Use: Policy Options and Financing Strategies in the Chinese Context"
Conference Paper
By Hongyan He Oliver, Former Research Fellow, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group, 2004-2009 and Kelly Sims Gallagher, Senior Associate, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group
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.
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. |
March 18, 2005
"Technical Conceptualization of In-Use Vehicle Emissions Study"
Presentation
By Hongyan He Oliver, Former Research Fellow, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group, 2004-2009
March 10, 2005
Untie Utilities' Hands on Coal
Op-Ed, The Albuquerque Journal
By Kelly Sims Gallagher, Senior Associate, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group and Jennie Stephens, Associate, Energy Technology Innovation Policy
2005
"Uncertainty of Air Pollution Cost Estimates: To What Extent Does It Matter?"
Journal Article, Environmental Science and Technology, issue 2, volume 39
By Bob van der Zwaan, Former Research Associate, Energy Technology Innovation Research Group/Project on Managing the Atom Project/Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program, 2001-2005
How large is the social cost penalty if one makes the wrong choice because of uncertainties in the estimates of the costs and benefits of environmental policy measures? For discrete choices there is no general rule other than the recommendation to always carefully compare costs and benefits when introducing policies for environmental protection.
July 15, 2005
"Research Plan and Current Progresses of the In-use Vehicle Emission Project in China"
Presentation
By Hongyan He Oliver, Former Research Fellow, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group, 2004-2009
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.
2004
"The Security Implications of Climate Change for the UN System"
Report Chapter
By Nigel Purvis and Joshua Busby, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 2004-2005
This short paper explores the security implications of climate change, focusing on the impacts on developing countries, particularly weak states. Security risks related to climate change will not be evenly distributed globally and will affect some kinds of governments more than others. While local and regional consequences of climate change remain very difficult to predict, three types of nations seem particularly vulnerable to the security risks of climate change: least-developed nations, weak states, and undemocratic states. Poor developing countries are the perhaps the most likely to suffer from climate change. These states lack the economic, governance, or technical capabilities to adapt to climate change. Failed and failing states—those with weak institutions of government, poor control over their borders, repressed populations, or marginal economies—stand a higher risk of being destabilized by climate change. The paper recommends a renewed emphasis on risk reduction and disaster preparedness with early warning systems that integrate meteorological risk with political risk.
October 2004
"Willingness-to-Pay for Clean Air: A Case-Study of China's Particulate-Matter Pollution Control Programs"
Presentation
By Guodong Sun, Former Research Fellow, Energy Technology Innovation Project/ Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program/Environment and Natural Resources Program, 2002-2006
The Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group (ETIP) seeks to combat global warming and climate change by promoting strategies for efficient energy technologies in China, India, and the United States, such as advanced coal technologies, carbon capture and storage (CCS), and advanced vehicle technologies.
2004
"A Sensitivity Analysis of Timing and Costs of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reductions Under Learning Effects and Niche Markets"
Journal Article, Climatic Change, volume 65
By Bob van der Zwaan, Former Research Associate, Energy Technology Innovation Research Group/Project on Managing the Atom Project/Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program, 2001-2005
This paper analyses the optimal timing and macro-economic costs of carbon emission reductions that mitigate the global average atmospheric temperature increase.
