Environmental Policies and Jobs in the Energy Sector
“The three industries that you might think of as most directly hit by environmental policy—logging, mining, and utilities—add up to just 1 percent of the economy. What we need to think about are the whole-economy effects because that’s where most of the jobs are.”
-Roberton C. Williams III, Senior Fellow and Director of Academic Programs, RFF; May 6, 2015
The Responsibility to Take Action on Climate Change
“Scientists are as sure that humans are causing climate change as they are that cigarette smoke causes lung cancer. So unless you want to debate that point, don’t debate about climate change any longer because it is our moral responsibility to act. That responsibility right now is crystal clear. And that is why we have taken action.”
-Gina McCarthy, Administrator, US Environmental Protection Agency; August 11, 2015
Natural Habitats and Protecting Nature
“We save natural habitats often by not needing the land for any productive uses. We save nature when there is no demand for its exploitation. In this sense, making nature worthless might be a more powerful way of saving nature than valuing its services.”
-Linus Blomqvist, Director of Conservation, The Breakthrough Institute; September 9, 2015
Low-Income Carbon Pricing Protection
“Well-designed carbon tax legislation can generate enough revenue to fully offset the hit to most vulnerable households’ budgets from higher energy prices, cushion the impact for many other households, and leave plenty to spare for other uses—whether deficit reduction, tax reform, or spending for other public purposes.”
-Chad Stone, Chief Economist, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities; September 22, 2015
Marine Infrastructure in the Alaskan Arctic
“There are no offshore assets [off the port of Nome, Alaska] now that Shell pulled out [of its exploratory drilling activities]. There were—if there was a ship in distress, they had vessels that could go and help. Now there is nothing. I think that’s one important message we need to bring across to folks, and we look forward to working with our congressional delegation and the Army Corps of Engineers to make this improvement.”
-The Hon. Denise Michels, Mayor, City of Nome, Alaska; October 7, 2015
A version of this article appeared in print in the Winter 2016 issue of Resources magazine.
