Designing a Durable Energy Policy

Carlson, Ann E.; Fri, Robert W.

doi:10.1162/daed_a_00189

Cited by 24 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 6 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Such flexibility may be especially crucial in complex policies such as cap‐and‐trade, which essentially try to chart the future of a state's energy demand and supply in developing a plan for emissions reduction that is expected to last nearly a half‐century (Carlson and Fri ). In turn, states may only have attempted to operationalize cap‐and‐trade in one prior instance, the sulfur dioxide case in which responses to sulfur emissions were readily available via minable coal with low‐sulfur content or viable emissions‐control technology.…”

Section: The Question Of Policy Durabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Durability of Carbon Cap‐and‐Trade Policy

Rabe

2015

Governance

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The surge of American states' adoption of policies to mitigate climate change in the late 1990s and 2000s appeared to constitute a first wave of expanding use of market‐based policy tools such as carbon cap‐and‐trade in the absence of binding federal constraints. Instead, a substantial number of states have rescinded earlier policy commitments, as have Canadian provincial partners, while others have remained engaged or even expanded their policies. This article examines the durability of the three regional cap‐and‐trade zones that were established with comparable structure and intent but met very different fates. The analysis of these regional entities places particular emphasis on their political resilience across election cycles, their ability to be flexible and adapt administratively through mid‐course adjustments, and their capacity to build constituency support through benefit‐allocation to offset opposition linked to cost imposition.

show abstract

Section: The Question Of Policy Durabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Durability of Carbon Cap‐and‐Trade Policy

Rabe

2015

Governance

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, in some cases, flexibility in the form of policy‐makers' discretion can enhance credibility by making the policy‐making process more robust to major changes . Carlson and Fri have recently brought attention to this trade‐off in energy policy design with a call for policy that is both ‘durable’ and ‘adaptable’ . Our study aims to make an initial empirical contribution to this aspect of energy policy design.…”

Section: Flexibility and Long‐term Commitmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…28 Carlson and Fri have recently brought attention to this trade-off in energy policy design with a call for policy that is both 'durable' and 'adaptable'. 29 Our study aims to make an initial empirical contribution to this aspect of energy policy design.…”

Section: Navigating a Trade-offmentioning

confidence: 99%

Four decades of multiyear targets in energy policy: aspirations or credible commitments?

Nemet

Braden

Cubero

et al. 2014

WIREs Energy & Environment

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A look at the past 40 years of U.S. energy policy provides ample evidence of volatility, including rapidly changing budgets, moving targets, and shifting incentives. Changing policy too often is a serious criticism because systemic inertia-for example, due to the long lifetimes of capital stock and to the atmospheric residence time of CO 2 -implies a need for persistence in order to achieve social goals. Further, a pattern of failing to meet objectives may reduce the credibility of future targets, and thus reduce the incentives for investment and behavioral change. But changing policy has benefits as well: it allows for adaptive management, experimentation, policy learning, and assimilation of new information. Assembling data on the effectiveness, duration, and ambition of 63 energy policy initiatives with targets ≥5 years, we find: targets were met 64-77% of the time; median duration to target was 12 years; and median rate of change was 2% per year. Significant predictors of success in meeting targets are enforcement, duration, and ambition. These determinants are robust across multiple specifications and definitions of ambition and success. We find a significant decline in ambition over time. Binding targets are much more likely to be met than nonbinding ones, but discretionary clauses completely offset the effect of enforceable penalties on the likelihood of target attainment.

show abstract

“…Under uncertainty, policies need to adapt provisions periodically in response to changes in knowledge, capability, or other conditions (140,141). These adaptations represent additional decision points subject to political pressure, but the nature of this pressure may vary strongly for different types of policies.…”

Section: Political Effectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Market Instruments for the Sustainability Transition

Parson

Kravitz

2013

Annu. Rev. Environ. Resour.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This review examines environmental market instruments-policies that pursue environmental or conservation goals by modifying conditions in existing markets or creating new ones, thereby providing flexibility and incentives for decentralized responses. We review these instruments' theoretical basis, historical development, major current enactments and proposals, and empirical studies of their effects. We consider experience with these instruments in the context of the increased demands that may be imposed on any policies by the pursuit of a large-scale transition to sustainability. Under these conditions, challenges likely to be particularly prominent for market instruments will include managing distributive effects when policies are enacted, effectively adapting policies under advancing knowledge, managing the tension between cost-reducing expansion of the scope of market instruments and the maintenance of environmental effectiveness, and designing systems to build complementarity between market incentives and related normative systems. Each of these implies priorities for research and policy experimentation.

show abstract

Designing a Durable Energy Policy

Cited by 24 publications

References 6 publications

The Durability of Carbon Cap‐and‐Trade Policy

The Durability of Carbon Cap‐and‐Trade Policy

Four decades of multiyear targets in energy policy: aspirations or credible commitments?

Market Instruments for the Sustainability Transition

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About