Superfund : Litigation Has Decreased and EPA Needs Better Information on Site Cleanup and Cost Issues to Estimate Future Program Funding Requirements

Government Accountability Office http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d09656.pdf [Summary]  Under the Superfund program, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) places the most seriously contaminated sites on the National Priorities List (NPL). EPA may compel site cleanups by parties responsible for contamination, or conduct cleanups itself and have these parties reimburse its costs. The program is funded by a trust fund, … Continue reading »

Climate Change Policy : Preliminary Observations on Options for Distributing Emissions Allowances and Revenue under a Cap-and-Trade Program

Government Accountability Office http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d09950t.pdf [Summary] Congress is considering proposals to establish a price on greenhouse gas emissions through a cap-and-trade program that would limit overall emissions and require covered entities to hold tradable emissions permits, or allowances, for their emissions. The purpose of such a program is to raise the cost of activities that produce … Continue reading »

Consequences of Alternative U.S. Cap-and-Trade Policies : Controlling Both Emissions and Costs

The Australian National University Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis (CAMA Working Paper 18/2009) / by Warwick J. McKibbin, Adele Morris, Peter J. Wilcoxen and and Yiyong Cai http://cama.anu.edu.au/Working%20Papers/Papers/2009/McKibbin_Morris_Wilcoxen_Cai_182009.pdf [Fr om executive summary] The report analyzes a range of possible cap-and-trade policies for the US. The seven policy scenarios we analyze meet similar long run environmental … Continue reading »

Climate Change and India : Is There a Basis for U.S. Pressure?

Brookings Institution / by Arvind Panagariya http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2009/0810_india_climate_panagariya.aspx?rssid=LatestFromBrookings [Abstract] In response to Secretary Clinton’s call for India to help combat global warming, India’s environment minister said that India, with over 300 million impoverished people, was not in a position to assume legally binding emissions. Arvind Panagariya reviews the debate and argues for developed countries to substantially … Continue reading »

Options for Reforming the Clean Development Mechanism

Belfer Center, Kennedy School, Harvard University / by the Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/publication/19523/options_for_reforming_the_clean_development_mechanism.html [Abstract]  The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)—established by the Kyoto Protocol of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change—is an emissions offset program that allows industrialized countries to receive credits for funding emissions reduction projects in developing countries. The program … Continue reading »