Climate change represents a challenging problem in public policy. This project examines various policy solutions to rising emissions, and suggests one that might be best suited to Canada, a highly-integrated, highly-developed economy which relies on natural resources, including fossil fuels, for its balance of payments, governmental revenues, and a small portion of its GDP. It adopts a public policy framework from Simpson, Rivers and Jaccard (2008) to analyze policy solutions using the following criteria: political acceptability, economic efficiency, administrative feasibility and effectiveness at reducing emissions. Additionally, it offers substantial discussion relating to the potential constraints and opportunities to climate change policy presented by NAFTA, compliance with which is key to the viability of any emissions regime. It advocates an upstream cap-and-trade system, integrated with the NAFTA area and regulated by an empowered Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), as well as complementary policies to lower emissions in inelastic sectors. / Graduate / mat.huff@gmail.com

Since the 1990s, advocates of policy to prevent catastrophic climate change have been divided over the appropriate economic instruments to curb CO2 emissions-carbon taxes or schemes of emission trading. Barack Obama claimed that policies implemented during his presidency set in motion irreversible trends toward a clean-energy economy, with the years 2008-2015 given as evidence of decoupling between CO2 emissions and economic growth. This is despite California being the only state in the USA that has implemented a specific policy to curb emissions, a cap-and-trade scheme in place since 2013. To assess Obama's claims and the effectiveness of policies to reduce CO2 emissions, we analyze national and state-level data from the USA over the period 1990-2015. We find: (a) annual changes in emissions strongly correlated with the growth conditions of the economy; (b) no evidence for decoupling; and (c) a trajectory of CO2 emissions in California which does not at all support the claim that the cap-and-trade system implemented there has reduced CO2 emissions. / Series: SRE - Discussion Papers

abstract: In 2009, cap and trade was at the forefront of political and environmental discussions. At this time, the American Clean Energy and Security Act passed in the United States House of Representatives. Market based systems are alternatives to traditional regulatory methods such as command and control. This study intended to assess the attitudes of environmental leaders who managed air emissions as a part of their job responsibilities. The attitude of these individuals would have influenced their acceptance of this method as a program to reduce environmental pollution and improve air quality. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the attitudes of South Carolinian Title V environmental leaders toward cap and trade. Additionally, the study intended to determine if experience impacted the attitudes of survey respondents. Lastly, the study determined if environmental leaders found current methods such as command and control effective in air pollution regulation. The survey used the Likert Method of Summated Ratings. Environmental leaders reviewed attitudinal statements about the various subjects. The leaders selected an agreement level which determined their attitudes toward the statement. Numerical response ratings evaluated the leader's attitude by experience level. The survey found that respondents had negative attitudes toward cap and trade. The respondents had a positive attitude toward traditional regulatory methods such as command and control. Lastly, the results concluded that environmental experience did not have an impact on the respondents' attitude toward cap and trade. Therefore, it can be concluded that the environmental leaders prefer traditional air pollution regulatory methods in comparison to alternatives such as cap and trade. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Technology 2012

This paper examines variables that may have contributed to Republican Assembly members’ 2017 support for the extension of California's cap-and-trade program. It focuses on district party demographics and voting history, the suspension of the Fire Protection Fee and the level of GHG emissions per district.

I explore the effects of the implementation of the two U.S. cap-and-trade policies on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions for the two regions in which the policies are active as well as the regions on their respective borders. The cap-and-trade policy is a market-based approach to reduce emissions by capping the total amount of emissions produced and allowing emission producing entities to trade emission allowances on an open market. The two active cap-and-trade policies in the United States are the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), located in the northeastern United States, and in California, which differ in design, scope, and duration. I use a difference in differences design to analyze the change in CO2 emissions in the states effected by the policies relative to the rest of the country. I find that the RGGI policy has not reduced CO2 emissions in comparison to the rest of the non-policy states but only the California emission trading system has yielded a statistically significant decline. The results also find that the there is no evidence to suggest different changes in CO2 emissions in the states bordering both regions in which the policies are in place.

Uppsatsen omfattar EU:s handel med utsläppsrätter och hur denna typ av lagstiftning påverkar företag inom olika industriella verksamheter. Genom en kvalitativ enkätstudie tillfrågades olika företag varav tre stora och två mindre inom verksamheterna järn- och stålindustrin, mineralindustrin samt metallindustrin. För att undersöka företagens syn på hur väl handel med utsläppsrätter fungerar för att minska EU:s klimatpåverkan genomfördes en analys baserad på passiva synteser och perspektivet av ekologisk modernisering på den insamlade empirin. Vi kom fram till att de svenska företagen som vi har undersökt anpassat sig efter EU ETS på olika sätt beroende på mängden tillgångar i form av resurser men även kostnader i form av utgifter. Nackdelarna med systemet påverkar främst de mindre företagen tillsammans med stora finansiella utgifter i form av byråkrati och resurskostnader. Ytterligare konsekvenser avser konkurrenskraft för företag som finns inom systemet i förhållande till de som står utanför. Fördelarna omfattar moment av ekonomisk styrning samt att systemet till viss del är drivande för investeringar i företagens klimatarbete. För att utveckling av cap-and-trade system ska fungera krävs det att ekonomisk utveckling, reducerade utsläpp och kreativa anpassningsmetoder går hand i hand. Klimatförändringarna presenterar därför en unik utmaning för utvecklingen av ekonomiska styrmedel i bekämpningen av utsläpp inom industrier. / The thesis covers the EU's emissions trading and how this type of legislation affects companies in various industrial activities. Through a qualitative survey, various companies were consulted, of which three were large and two smaller in the iron and steel industry, the mineral industry and the metal industry. To examine the companies' view of how well trading in emission rights works to reduce the EU's climate impact, an analysis was carried out based on passive syntheses and the perspective of ecological modernization on the collected empirical data. We concluded that the Swedish companies that we have examined adapted to the EU ETS in different ways depending on the amount of assets in the form of resources, but also costs in the form of expenses. The disadvantages of the system mainly affect the smaller companies together with large financial expenses in the form of bureaucracy and resource costs. Further consequences relate to the competitiveness of companies that are within the system in relation to those who are outside. The benefits include elements of economic governance and that the system is to some extent a driving force for investments in the companies' climate work. In order for the development of cap-and-trade systems to work, it is necessary that economic development, reduced emissions and creative adaptation methods go hand in hand. Climate change therefore presents a unique challenge for the development of economic instruments in the fight against emissions within industries.

Previsões alarmantes sobre o futuro do clima no planeta têm feito os debates sobre políticas climáticas virem à tona com mais vigor nos últimos anos. Nesse contexto, os países desenvolvidos, principalmente, tentam mobilizar-se à procura de mecanismos efetivos para frear os desdobramentos da ação humana sobre o clima. Mas essas medidas devem ter impactos, por meio do comércio internacional, em países que não acordaram dividir as responsabilidades do controle de emissões. Em particular, o Brasil possui papel relevante nas discussões sobre políticas climáticas, devido a aspectos como matriz energética com ênfase em fontes renováveis, produção comercial de biocombustíveis e riqueza em estoques de carbono na forma de vegetação natural. Assim, o presente trabalho pretende investigar os efeitos diretos e indiretos sobre a economia brasileira advindos de políticas climáticas prováveis de serem adotadas. A metodologia a ser utilizada baseia-se na modelagem de equilíbrio geral aplicado, considerando as especificidades da economia brasileira. Os resultados apontam que, sob a perspectiva de produção comercial de bicombustível, o Brasil se coloca como principal produtor, diminuindo sua produção de etanol, que é para uso interno, e direcionando-se para o comércio internacional do substituto não-poluente do petróleo. Conclui-se, também, que a produção comercial de biocombustível se coloca como uma armadilha para a economia de um país, em especial o Brasil, aproveitando-se dos recursos econômicos disponíveis em detrimento do consumo interno e prejudicando também o investimento em outras atividades econômicas. Para os demais países do mundo, entretanto, a possível comercialização de biocombustíveis é benéfica por desonerar as políticas climáticas. / Alarming predictions on the global climate future has been making the climate policies discussions come along more vigorously the latest years. On this context, developed countries especially are trying to get themselves together looking for effective mechanisms to curb the consequences of human actions upon the weather. But these measures must impact, by international trade, on countries that have not agreed to share the burdens of emissions control. Particularly, Brazil has a relevant role on climate policies discussions, due to aspects like its energetic matrix with emphasis on renewable energy, its tradable production of biofuels and its rich carbon stocks in natural vegetation. So this work intends to investigate the direct and indirect impacts on Brazilian economy from possible implementation of climate policies. The methodology is based on applied general equilibrium modeling, considering the specificities of the Brazilian economy. The results point that under the perspective of biofuel commercial production, Brazil becomes the main producer, diminishing its production of ethanol for its own use, and moving toward international trade of the non-pollutant oil substitute. One can either conclude that the biofuel commercial production is a trap for economy of a country, especially Brazil, since it takes advantage of available natural resources in despite of internal consumption and even harming the investment on other economic activities. For the other countries of the world, however, the possible trading of biofuels is beneficent by unburdening the climate policies.

Previsões alarmantes sobre o futuro do clima no planeta têm feito os debates sobre políticas climáticas virem à tona com mais vigor nos últimos anos. Nesse contexto, os países desenvolvidos, principalmente, tentam mobilizar-se à procura de mecanismos efetivos para frear os desdobramentos da ação humana sobre o clima. Mas essas medidas devem ter impactos, por meio do comércio internacional, em países que não acordaram dividir as responsabilidades do controle de emissões. Em particular, o Brasil possui papel relevante nas discussões sobre políticas climáticas, devido a aspectos como matriz energética com ênfase em fontes renováveis, produção comercial de biocombustíveis e riqueza em estoques de carbono na forma de vegetação natural. Assim, o presente trabalho pretende investigar os efeitos diretos e indiretos sobre a economia brasileira advindos de políticas climáticas prováveis de serem adotadas. A metodologia a ser utilizada baseia-se na modelagem de equilíbrio geral aplicado, considerando as especificidades da economia brasileira. Os resultados apontam que, sob a perspectiva de produção comercial de bicombustível, o Brasil se coloca como principal produtor, diminuindo sua produção de etanol, que é para uso interno, e direcionando-se para o comércio internacional do substituto não-poluente do petróleo. Conclui-se, também, que a produção comercial de biocombustível se coloca como uma armadilha para a economia de um país, em especial o Brasil, aproveitando-se dos recursos econômicos disponíveis em detrimento do consumo interno e prejudicando também o investimento em outras atividades econômicas. Para os demais países do mundo, entretanto, a possível comercialização de biocombustíveis é benéfica por desonerar as políticas climáticas. / Alarming predictions on the global climate future has been making the climate policies discussions come along more vigorously the latest years. On this context, developed countries especially are trying to get themselves together looking for effective mechanisms to curb the consequences of human actions upon the weather. But these measures must impact, by international trade, on countries that have not agreed to share the burdens of emissions control. Particularly, Brazil has a relevant role on climate policies discussions, due to aspects like its energetic matrix with emphasis on renewable energy, its tradable production of biofuels and its rich carbon stocks in natural vegetation. So this work intends to investigate the direct and indirect impacts on Brazilian economy from possible implementation of climate policies. The methodology is based on applied general equilibrium modeling, considering the specificities of the Brazilian economy. The results point that under the perspective of biofuel commercial production, Brazil becomes the main producer, diminishing its production of ethanol for its own use, and moving toward international trade of the non-pollutant oil substitute. One can either conclude that the biofuel commercial production is a trap for economy of a country, especially Brazil, since it takes advantage of available natural resources in despite of internal consumption and even harming the investment on other economic activities. For the other countries of the world, however, the possible trading of biofuels is beneficent by unburdening the climate policies.

Flying can constitute as much as a third of an academic institution’s total emissions and there’s a growing concern among researchers around their academic travel contributing to global warming. This paper is part of KTH FLIGHT, a research project for decreased CO2-emissions in flight-intensive organizations through creation and testing of practical tools. It is a Research through Design work that provides new knowledge about a previously largely unexplored implementation area of emission trading systems like Cap and Trade. These have previously helped reduce emissions at lower costs than tax based systems in various settings but little research exists in terms of design and important factors for a university to promote more sustainable travel patterns. This paper reveals challenges and opportunities regarding implementation and shows current feasibility in implementing in a Swedish university (KTH), and provides suggestions for choosing suitable users and direction of future research. / Flygresor kan utgöra upp till en tredjedel av en akademisk institutions totala utsläpp och det finns en växande oro bland forskare kring att deras resande bidrar till den globala uppvärmningen. Denna rapport är en del av KTH FLIGHT, ett forskningsprojekt med syfte att minska CO2 -utsläpp i flygintensiva organisationer genom att skapa och testa praktiska verktyg. Detta är ett Research through Design-arbete som bidrar med ny kunskap om ett tidigare till stor del outforskat område för implementeringar av utsläppshandelssystem såsom Cap and Trade. Dessa har i olika sammanhang tidigare bidragit till minskade utsläpp med lägre kostnader än skattebaserade system. Men i dagsläget finns det lite forskning gällande dess design och viktiga faktorer för att främja mer hållbara resvanor på ett universitet. Denna uppsats visar på utmaningar och möjligheter vid en implementering och visar aktuell genomförbarhet i ett svenskt universitet (KTH), samt ger förslag på val av lämpliga användare samt inriktning för framtida forskning.

Social, political, and economic trends suggest that the United States may soon join other United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) countries in drafting substantive, national climate change policy. After providing a brief overview of past and present climate action taken both nationally and internationally, this paper explores different economic solutions to address the externalities of fossil fuel emissions. Alternatives include command-and-control regulation, a carbon tax, and a cap-and-trade program. Several factors, including domestic political anti-tax sentiment, suggest that a cap-and-trade framework is the most promising market-based alternative to reduce carbon emissions within the United States’s electricity sector. Case studies focus on the power generation components of four Texas utilities: Austin Energy, CPS Energy of San Antonio, NRG Energy, and Luminant and assess cap-and-trade’s ramifications on electricity prices. Utilities would seek to pass through to customers in the form of higher electricity prices up to 100 percent of expenses incurred from mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Three primary factors will determine how a given carbon dioxide cap-and-trade allowance price will affect the electricity price charged by utilities: the carbon intensity of the generation fuel mix, whether the wholesale electricity market is regulated or competitive, and whether greenhouse gas allowances are auctioned or grandfathered to covered entities. Consumer elasticity would determine resulting demand for the higher priced energy. Relatively inelastic electricity consumption could cause electricity sector customers to incur financial losses approximately eight times larger than producers by the year 2020 under a mature cap-and-trade framework. Furthermore, evidence suggests market-based GHG reduction tools such as a cap-and-trade schema alone are not sufficient to decarbonize the electricity generation sector. Without complementary regulatory policies that mandate transition to clean energy sources, cap-and-trade will only succeed in redistributing the opportunity cost associated with the carbon externality. / text