Genetically Modified Foods
Select US grocery stores announced that they will not sell genetically modified salmon, despite the Obama administration’s preliminary approval of the product. Whole Foods also said that it will label all genetically modified foods by 2018—a requirement many advocacy groups have pressured the FDA to implement for all grocery stores.
At an RFF First Wednesday seminar moderated by Visiting Scholar Randall Lutter, experts in agricultural biotechnology discussed the future of genetically modified foods, debating how labeling products as genetically modified could affect the marketing, consumption, and economic sustainability of these foods. Video of the seminar is available here.
EPA Emissions Regulations
Reports suggest that implementation of EPA’s proposal to regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from new power plants will likely be delayed to ensure it can withstand potential legal challenges. However, RFF’s Dallas Burtraw, Arthur Fraas, Karen Palmer, and Nathan Richardson note that other issues exist. In comments submitted to EPA about its original proposal for new power plants, they raised concerns about the need to reduce regulatory uncertainty regarding existing power sources, as well as carbon capture-and-storage technology. They recommended “that EPA should move toward flexible GHG performance standards that allow trading, banking, and averaging among new and existing sources in different classes of emitters—not just the electric power sector.”
Adaptation Efforts
While several states are drafting plans to better prepare homes, businesses, and infrastructure for weather disasters resulting from climate change, Governor Paul LePage of Maine recently halted the creation of his state’s climate adaptation strategy. However, with such weather events now considered threats to national security, it is unclear what role the states can or should play in these efforts.
RFF Vice President for Research Molly Macauley recently noted: “The effects of climate change will primarily be local, but they won’t fall within neat state governmental boundaries. There is a key federal government role both in terms of implementing new policies and jettisoning some current ones that prevent a sensible response.” For example, Senior Fellow Winston Harrington proposed a competitive grant program to award funding to state and local agencies to conduct research on and implement innovative adaptation strategies. RFF University Fellow Kerry Smith suggests implementing flexible pricing policies for services such as water and power that reflect real conditions, such as drought or electricity scarcity, to control for increases in demand during extreme events.
