In President Obama’s final State of the Union, he urged Americans to look to the future: “But even if the planet wasn't at stake, even if 2014 wasn't the warmest year on record—until 2015 turned out even hotter—why would we want to pass up the chance for American businesses to produce and sell the energy of the future?” Research by RFF experts sheds light on the details:
On policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels produced on federal land (which, according to the Washington Post, the White House will announce in the coming days):
- RFF’s Alan Krupnick: “Federal coal seems like a logical target for launching a carbon pricing policy. . . . Such a policy would signal the Obama administration’s intent on reducing CO2 emissions (especially beyond what may or may not be achieved via the Clean Power Plan). And, it would set the precedent for a future, more substantive (and broadly applied) upstream charge on emissions.” Read the blog series or discussion paper.
On removing subsidies for fossil fuels:
- RFF’s Joe Aldy of Harvard: “Oil and gas tax expenditures do not have a meaningful impact on US oil and gas production. . . . These subsidies could not reverse the decline in domestic production before 2008, and high oil prices and technological innovation, not subsidies, explain the rapid production growth in recent years.” Read the Resources article.
On increasing solar energy and distributed generation:
- RFF’s Tim Brennan: “Meeting the challenges of distributed generation requires that regulators can answer these questions regarding economies of scope and the portion of [a utility’s] fixed costs [versus that which varies with output].” Read the blog post.
- RFF’s Richard Schmalensee of MIT: “The key to realizing the potential of the vast solar resource to help slow climate change is to develop lower-cost generation technologies that use earth-abundant elements and that thus can be scaled up without undue cost increases, and the fundamental research required is logically the responsibility of the public sector.” Read the journal article.
RFF on the Issues connects today’s pressing news with related research and expertise at RFF.
