Publications

Grandfathering has become a common practice in regulating industries like coal power generation. But it is not clear that phasing out polluting plants is beneficial. The costs of retrofitting existing plants to comply with new standard can be higher than the compliance costs for a new plant. Since the costs of shifting to new technology must be borne at some point, (since granfathering can’t be indefinite) it might be best not to grandfather at all so that society can benefit from lower pollution levels earlier. That’s just one of the arguments examined in this working paper.

Economists and Climate Change: Consensus and Open Questions describes and analyzes the results of a survey sent to 289 economic experts on climate change. Over 84% of the respondents to the poll said that the effects of global warming will create significant risks to important sectors of the United States and global economies.

Unlocking the Green Economy: How Carbon Pricing Can Open the Floodgates of Private Investment in Clean Energy calls for the Obama Administration to implement carbon pricing as a necessary step to transition to a green U.S. economy.