Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions - December 4, 2015


Upcoming Events
December 4
Paris, France (COP 21)

December 7
Paris, France (COP 21)

December 8
Paris, France (COP 21)

December 8

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

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EPA's Clean Power Plan and Interstate Trading Options
EPA's Clean Power Plan and Interstate Trading Options
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Our Impact: Weighing the Implications of Bioenergy Markets, Policy
Bioenergy is a growing source of alternative energy but has yet to emerge as a self-sustaining industry despite significant policy support. Future support may be shaped by the outcome of debates surrounding its production and use-involving everything from what's classified as biomass and what its net impacts are on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to how it affects food security and forest resources. In the final installment in a 12-part series on the impacts of Duke University's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions in its first decade, we describe how the Nicholas Institute has been weighing the policy risks and rewards of expanded bioenergy markets.
Side Events, Commentary Planned in Paris
Nicholas Institute researchers are attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris, where a global climate deal is slated to be negotiated November 30-December 11. 

Co-Hosted Side Events
December 7: With the Electric Power Research Institute and the International Emissions Trading Association, we will explore the value and challenges of bilateral and multilateral market mechanisms with new analyses, perspectives and lessons on implementation. 

December 8: With Climate Action Reserve, we will host two events. The first will examine forests and their role in the fight against climate change, both by sequestering carbon and by avoiding emissions of carbon due to deforestation. Then, we'll convene policy makers and experts involved in active and prospective North American carbon markets to discuss the prospects for efficient achievement of collective ambition in reducing emissions at the national, continental and global scales. 

Commentary
The Nicholas Institute's Brian Murray, Billy Pizer, and Tim Profeta will provide insights and commentary on The Climate Post about COP 21. Subscribe to receive our special issues.
Process for Review of Mitigation Goals
Billy Pizer, along with Joseph Aldy of the Harvard Kennedy School, highlight the need for new sets of benchmarks to compare each nation's progress toward mitigation goals in a new study in the journal The Review of Environmental Economics and Policy. Given the iterative pledge-and-review approach that is emerging in current climate change negotiations, practical mechanisms for comparing domestic efforts aimed at mitigating global climate change could enhance participation, commitment, and compliance if they can show that all parties are doing their "fair share." Pizer and Aldy suggest a set of indicators to do this.
Understanding the Proposed Federal Plan
A new article, authored by Nicholas Institute researchers in the Environmental Law Reporter, summarizes the final Clean Power Plan rule, describes the mass- and rate-based proposed federal plans, identifies areas in which the model rules differ, highlights key issues for states and other stakeholders as they evaluate the tradeoffs between plan pathways, and discusses the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's timeline for finalizing the federal plan and model rules.

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.