environmental economics Archives

environmental economics

The Philanthropy Gap

Spending relating to climate change is far too low given the urgency of the situation.

Larry Kramer, who heads the Hewlett Foundation, pointed out in a speech five years ago that climate change accounted for less than 2% of foundation spending. He called upon “anyone who cares about our children’s and grandchildren’s futures to step forward.” The situation has gotten only a bit better since 2017. In 2020, according to a McKinsey …

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The Energy Transition and the Working Class

Is Biden right? Can we attack climate change while uplifting the lives of workers?

In most of the world, May 1 is International Worker’s Day. It celebrates the collective struggle of workers for better wages and working conditions. That made me start thinking about the efforts that have been made to unite climate action with the interests of workers. That has been a particular emphasis of the Biden Administration …

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Revamping Cost-Benefit Analysis

Proposed changes will make CBA more climate friendly.

Last week, the Biden White House released proposed changes in the way the government does cost-benefit analysis. CBA has been a key part of rule making for forty years. The proposal is very technical and low-key, but the upshot will be that efforts to reduce carbon emissions will get a leg up. In particular, the …

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I’m With Paul

Krugman claims that climate action doesn’t mean an end to growth. He’s right.

In a recent column, Paul Krugman argued that cutting carbon emissions doesn’t have to mean an end to economic growth. He’s right about that. Carbon emissions and growth aren’t joined at the hip. He could have added that economic growth and quality of life don’t necessarily go together. The numbers are really clear about the …

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Everyday Christmas: The Gift of the Commons

Clean air. Clean water. We receive these public goods every day without payment, as gifts from everyone to all of us.

One of the Christmas classics is the Jimmy Stewart movie, It’s a Wonderful Life. George Bailey, Stewart’s character, is despondent about his life but then learns how much he has unknowingly helped others and how grateful they are. It’s heartwarming, if also very corny. There’s a flip side to that story: the need to remember how …

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Cost-Benefit Analysis and Deep Uncertainty

How should agencies take into account “the things we know we don’t know”?

Since 1981, cost-benefit analysis (CBA) has been at the core of the rule making process. OIRA, the so-called “regulatory czar” in the White House, must approve every significant regulation based on a review of its CBA. But CBA has had a major blind spot. It embodies techniques for analyzing possible harmful outcomes when the probability …

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Jobs and Environmental Regulation

“Job-killing regulation”? That’s not really what the evidence tells us.

Labor Day is a good time to talk about an important topic: the impact of environmental regulation on jobs. This is a clearly a fraught issue. In support of his deregulation campaign, President Trump promised to “cancel every needless job-killing regulation and put a moratorium on new regulations until our economy gets back on its …

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Bracket Creep at OIRA

There’s an embarrassing economic blunder in how OIRA’s jurisdiction is defined.

The Biden Administration is considering changes to how OIRA, the “regulatory czar,” operates. There’s one simple fix the Administration should make. OIRA core function is cost-benefit analysis But the rules establishing OIRA’s jurisdiction contain an error that should make an economist blush: using nominal rather than real (inflation-adjusted) dollars. This means that OIRA is now …

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Taking A Data-Driven Tour of Air Pollution Law

After Half a Century, What Do We Really Know about the Impacts of the Clean Air Act?

Earlier this year, a team of economists published a retrospective paper on the Clean Air Act. It surveys the economic literature to find out what the data tells us about emission trading systems, the effects of pollutants, and effects of imposing tougher regulatory requirements in areas that failed to meet national air quality standards. Some …

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Unquantified Benefits

How can the government account for benefits that it can’t measure?

Like it or not, quantitative cost-benefit analysis has been a key part of the regulatory process for forty years and seem likely to stay that way. Yet even economists admit that they don’t (yet) know how to put numbers on the value of some important regulatory benefits. But how can those qualitative assessments be combined …

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Who Will Own the Clean Energy Future?

In the latest push to finance renewable energy, we have allowed private actors to make substantial claims on public resources without asking for anything in return.

The New NEPA: A User’s Guide

The Debt Ceiling Law Rewrote NEPA. Here’s a map to the new statute.

Digitalization and Predictive Policing in Conservation

Does technology shift focus toward “green policing” and away from integrated conservation and development?

What’s Next in the Fight over Berkeley’s Natural Gas Ordinance

In a petition seeking review of the decision, the City of Berkeley says that the opinion from a Ninth Circuit panel takes federal preemption too far.

On the Perils of Hasty Drafting

The Debt Ceiling Bill was written under intense time pressure. It shows!

Sackett and the Dangers of a New ‘Clear-Statement Rule’

The Supreme Court decision in Sackett v. EPA will be bad for the nation’s wetlands. It is just as bad for democracy. 

NEPA and the Debt Deal

Will the permitting sections of the debt ceiling bill undermine environmental reviews?

Default and the Environment

What are the environmental impacts of Uncle Sam’s failure to pay his debts on time?

A decade of unraveling the effects of regulation on water innovation

By Michael Kiparsky, with Dave Smith, Nell Green Nylen, Luke Sherman, Alida Cantor, Anita Milman, Felicia Marcus, David Sedlak, Bernhard Truffer, Christian Binz, Sasha Harris-Lovett, Jeff Lape, Justin Mattingly, Dave Owen, Lars Tummers, Buzz Thompson

environmental economics

Spending relating to climate change is far too low given the urgency of the situation.

Is Biden right? Can we attack climate change while uplifting the lives of workers?

Proposed changes will make CBA more climate friendly.

Krugman claims that climate action doesn’t mean an end to growth. He’s right.

Clean air. Clean water. We receive these public goods every day without payment, as gifts from everyone to all of us.

How should agencies take into account “the things we know we don’t know”?

“Job-killing regulation”? That’s not really what the evidence tells us.

There’s an embarrassing economic blunder in how OIRA’s jurisdiction is defined.

After Half a Century, What Do We Really Know about the Impacts of the Clean Air Act?

How can the government account for benefits that it can’t measure?

TRENDING

In the latest push to finance renewable energy, we have allowed private actors to make substantial claims on public resources without asking for anything in return.

The Debt Ceiling Law Rewrote NEPA. Here’s a map to the new statute.

Does technology shift focus toward “green policing” and away from integrated conservation and development?

In a petition seeking review of the decision, the City of Berkeley says that the opinion from a Ninth Circuit panel takes federal preemption too far.

The Debt Ceiling Bill was written under intense time pressure. It shows!

The Supreme Court decision in Sackett v. EPA will be bad for the nation’s wetlands. It is just as bad for democracy.

Will the permitting sections of the debt ceiling bill undermine environmental reviews?

What are the environmental impacts of Uncle Sam’s failure to pay his debts on time?

By Michael Kiparsky, with Dave Smith, Nell Green Nylen, Luke Sherman, Alida Cantor, Anita Milman, Felicia Marcus, David Sedlak, Bernhard Truffer, Christian Binz, Sasha Harris-Lovett, Jeff Lape, Justin Mattingly, Dave Owen, Lars Tummers, Buzz Thompson

How to read a baffling Supreme Court ruling.

Will the permitting sections of the debt ceiling bill undermine environmental reviews?

NAGE’s New Lawsuit Makes A Strong Case That It Can

A new Supreme Court opinion is good news for state climate regulators.

Newsom’s infrastructure package makes a big change for California species protection

Yes, the new NY law includes some bans on natural gas. That’s far from all it does.

It’s important to remember the regulatory history—and the growing urgency—of limiting climate change-related carbon pollution from power plants.

The Debt Ceiling Bill was written under intense time pressure. It shows!

Spending relating to climate change is far too low given the urgency of the situation.

Does technology shift focus toward “green policing” and away from integrated conservation and development?

The Debt Ceiling Law Rewrote NEPA. Here’s a map to the new statute.

The Supreme Court decision in Sackett v. EPA will be bad for the nation’s wetlands. It is just as bad for democracy. 

It’s important to remember the regulatory history—and the growing urgency—of limiting climate change-related carbon pollution from power plants. 