The Prospect of Geoengineering
While the head of the United Nations Climate Change Secretariat recently dismissed the idea of using geoengineering measures to help cool the planet, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is examining the issue for the first time to help reduce carbon emissions.
Is the world ready to test new geoengineering technologies? Join RFF this Thursday, December 13, for the final Resources 2020 lecture in 2012, “Geoengineering: Time for Some Gentle Experimentation," with 2005 Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences Thomas C. Schelling. Register to attend in person or watch the live webcast and tweet questions using #AskRFF.
Regulating CO2 under the Clean Air Act
According to a new report from the Natural Resources Defense Council, the US Environmental Protection Agency “could cut US emissions some 10 percent” by setting flexible state-level targets for all existing power plants. RFF Darius Gaskins Senior Fellow Dallas Burtraw says that “the plan makes two substantial contributions” by illustrating the “value of a flexible, incentive-based approach to implementing the regulations” and providing a wide range of compliance options.
However, RFF Resident Scholar Nathan Richardson notes that the plan’s “flexibility carries legal risk.” In a new blog post, he examines the question: “Is a source that does nothing to cut its own emissions, but instead buys efficiency and renewable credits, really meeting a performance standard?”
Reporting from Doha
As media outlets reported last week on the lack of progress at the UN Conference of the Parties 18 (COP 18), RFF’s Kristin Hayes observed that a “sticking point in the negotiations” was the “ambition deficit”— the “significant gap between the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s recommended level of emissions reductions . . . and the level of emissions reductions currently committed to by countries worldwide.”
RFF Center Fellow Daniel Morris also noted that “getting to [a global emissions] treaty is never smooth sailing,” despite the “relatively simple” expectations of this year’s conference.
