US Federal

To meet the climate challenge, the United States needs a comprehensive national approach. Well-designed federal policy can cut emissions and strengthen resilience while driving economic growth.

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Paper
A Blueprint for Legislative Action

In January 2007, we issued our Call for Action in which we joined together to call for “prompt enactment of national legislation in the United States to slow, stop and reverse the growth of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions over the …

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Publication
Addressing Competitiveness in U.S. Climate Change Policy

This brief examines policy options for addressing competitiveness concerns arising from the establishment of a mandatory domestic program to limit greenhouse gas emissions. These concerns center on energy-intensive industries that compete globally and could face higher costs under a domestic …

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Publication
Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Timetables

This brief describes issues relevant to the timetable for reducing U.S. emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) under a cap-and-trade program. The first issue is whether reductions are sufficiently deep to have a meaningful effect on the global climate. Scientific evidence …

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Publication
Tax Policies to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions

This brief outlines the motivation for and key features of a tax designed to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs). The two most commonly discussed market-based instruments for reducing GHG emissions are a cap-andtrade system and a GHG (carbon) tax. …

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Publication
Policies to Reduce Emissions from the Transportation Sector

This brief discusses public policy tools available to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the transportation sector. Reducing GHG emissions from transportation, which comprise one third of total U.S. CO2 emissions, will need to be a key part of any …

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Publication
Addressing Emissions From Coal Use in Power Generation

Coal is a cheap and abundant resource, and carbon dioxide (CO2) from coal use is responsible for about 40 percent of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from fossil fuel use. The United States and China are by far the largest …

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Publication
Technology Policies to Address Climate Change

This brief presents public policy tools available to provide support for research, development, demonstration, and deployment (RDD&D) of technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. An emissions price induced by a cap-and-trade program can provide an incentive to “pull” new technology …

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Paper
The 2008 Candidates and Climate Change: A Guide to Key Policy Positions

For the first time, both major party candidates for the presidency are deeply concerned about global climate change and publicly support a mandatory, economy-wide cap-and-trade system for reducing the U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that contribute to global climate change. …

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Publication
Insights from Modeling Analyses of the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act

Models only provide a simplified view of our economy. In the case of the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act (S.2191), models can capture many of the key policy elements (e.g., the impacts of targets, timing, and offsets) but cannot incorporate all …

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Article
Climate Policy Should Focus on Reducing Emissions

Originally published in the September/October 2007 issue of The Environmental Forum I wish there were an easy solution to climate change — one that didn’t require fundamental and difficult changes in our energy system, law, or behavior. I also wish …

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