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Profeta Outlines Four Principles for Carbon Market Success
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Institute Director Tim Profeta outlined four principles necessary for carbon market success in his testimony on greenhouse gas market design to the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry on September 9. Increased oversight, mandatory clearing of standardized products, real-time pricing and volume transparency, and expanded agency jurisdiction to cover the full scope of activity in a marketplace are all critical, Profeta told the Senate panel.
"Given the financial market failures in recent years, it is understandable that a market approach should not be viewed as a foregone conclusion," he noted. "However, based on the Nicholas Institute's evaluation of the numerous policy options proposed to address climate change, I believe a market approach remains an effective means to achieve the environmental goals of reduced greenhouse gas emissions, at the lowest cost." Cost, in the end, is the determining factor, Profeta said: "Almost by definition, private actors, with a market incentive, will find a lower, less costly alternative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions than the government could determine by fiat." His complete testimony is online on the Institute's Web site.
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Forum Examines Climate Policy's Costs and Benefits to N.C. Farms and Forests
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The Nicholas Institute is organizing a free public forum to address what new federal climate and energy legislation could mean for North Carolina farmers and foresters. The daylong forum will take place Sept. 30 at the Sampson County Agri-Exposition Center in Clinton, N.C. "There's a lot of speculation about how the passage of climate policies in coming years could affect North Carolina's farming and forestry producers," says Christopher Galik, research coordinator at the Institute. "Our goal is to provide a balanced assessment, based on nonpartisan science and analysis, as well as a venue for discussion." The forum will focus on five key topics: The role of agriculture and forestry in climate and energy policy; the potential costs and benefits of climate and energy policy; making the transition from existing markets to a cap-and-trade system; carbon markets and offsets; and opportunities in biofuels, biomass, swine/management and forestry.
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CCPP Analyst Explores Options for Expanding U.S. Power Grids
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The United States needs to expand and modernize its outdated power transmission grid to incorporate more renewable energy sources, but balkanized ownership and regulation are going to make that process slow and difficult, according to a new working paper from the Climate Change Policy Partnership at Duke. "Complex and fragmented regulatory structures increase transaction costs, delay the permitting process, and add to risk and uncertainty," says technology policy analyst Chi-Jen Yang, author of the 26-page paper. "Local opposition and other siting difficulties, along with traditional reliability-focused planning, also have impeded the development of a modern grid. Because of these, there has been a sustained under-investment in transmission for several decades." In the paper, he explores eleven policy options for addressing these obstacles.
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| New Paper Assess Effects of Low-Carbon Policies on Net Farm Income | |
Concerns about increases in energy and other agricultural input costs have led some to oppose greenhouse gas cap-and-trade legislative proposals. However, these policies could result in significant revenue for U.S. agriculture, which is a potential source of low-carbon bioenergy and greenhouse gas offsets. A new working paper published this month by the Nicholas Institute simultaneously models these factors to assess the net impacts for U.S. agriculture. The paper was written by researchers from the Nicholas Institute, the Center on Global Change at Duke, the Climate Change Policy Partnership at Duke, Texas A&M University, Oregon State University, the U.S. Forest Service, the Electric Power Research Institute, the Research Triangle Institute, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. After accounting for changes in agricultural production practices, demand responses, and commodity and offset revenues, they find that a U.S. climate policy would benefit the agricultural sector..
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First Undergrad Forum to Focus on "Making the Green Economy Work"
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The Nicholas Institute will host Duke University's first annual Winter Forum conference for undergraduates on January 10-12 at the Sanford Institute for Public Policy. The theme of the forum is "Making the Green Economy Work." Organized by Duke's Office of Undergraduate Studies, the new annual event is intended to give students the opportunity to explore a timely global issue from the perspectives of multiple disciplines and cultural viewpoints, led by top Duke faculty members and experts. A different school or institute will host the event each year. Deadline for student applications is October 7. Application information, along with a tentative forum schedule, list of invited guests and participating faculty, is available online.
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| Pendleton Named Director of Ocean and Coastal Policy | |
Linwood Pendleton has joined the Institute's staff as its new director of ocean and coastal policy. An expert on marine and coastal economics, he is widely cited for his use of empirical methods to understand the effects of environmental change on economic uses of the ocean. Pendleton previously was senior fellow and director of economic research at The Ocean Foundation in Washington, D.C., and director of the Coastal Ocean Values Center in North Sandwich, N.H., and has served on the faculties at UCLA, the University of Southern California and the University of Wyoming. As the Institute's new director for ocean and coastal policy, he will be based at the Duke University Marine Lab in Beaufort, N.C.
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