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 Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions - December 8, 2014



Upcoming Events
December 8-12
Arlington, VA 

December 9

Lima, Peru

New Methods for Comparing Levels of Effort at COP20

 

For information on other upcoming events, visit the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions website

 

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Federal Resource Management and Ecosystem Services Guidebook
Federal Resource Management and Ecosystem Services Guidebook
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Social Cost of Carbon: Monitoring Needed

As decision makers gathered at the 2014 U.N. Climate Change Conference in Lima, Peru, to develop an agreement aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions, researchers at Duke and other institutions, including William Pizer and Brian Murray of the Nicholas Institute, are urging the United States to regularly evaluate the social cost of carbon (SCC), an estimate of the per-metric-ton dollar value of reducing climate change damages. In an article published in Science, they suggest that a regularly monitored process for gauging the SCC is critical not only for domestic policy but also for international climate negotiations.

 

FRMES Guidebook Launched

As part of the ongoing Federal Resource Management and Ecosystem Services (FRMES) project, a new online guidebook for federal resource managers and planners is being unveiled at the A Community on Ecosystem Services Conference, December 8-12. The FRMES project aims for federal agencies and other field experts to work together to integrate ecosystem services concepts into federal resource planning and management processes, and the new guidebook provides a framework and methodology for ensuring consistent and credible application of those concepts to planning and management activities. It also includes examples of how federal agencies are exploring or applying an ecosystem services framework. 

 

Former Duke Energy CEO Turned Fellow

Nicholas Advisory Board member and former Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers has brought his extensive experience in the energy industry to the classroom at Duke. With Nicholas Institute director Tim Profeta, Rogers has been co-teaching a graduate-level class on renewable energy sources for the developing world. He is engaging students on the history of natural gas infrastructure in the United States and on efforts to slow climate change.

 

Reallocating Scarce Water Resources
In the United States, water rights can be difficult to determine due to the tangled web of interconnections among key players involved in the hydrologic cycle. A working paper from the Nicholas Institute takes a close look at market-based transactions as an economically 
efficient--though inevitably expensive and time-consuming--way to reallocate scarce water resources. 

Power Trip Series: Students Tour EPA Site

Twenty-five students and staff from Duke University visited SAS, the country's largest private software company, and the Research Triangle campus of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) during the final Power Tour trip of the fall semester. Co-sponsored with the Duke University Energy Initiative, the Power Trip series allows Duke students to visit facilities in North Carolina that are on the cutting edge of energy innovation.

 

The Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions helps decision makers create timely, effective, and economically practical solutions to the world's critical environmental challenges.

Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke University,
 P.O. Box 90335, Durham, NC 27708.