How to set policy in the presence of uncertainty has been central in debates over climate policy. Concern about costs has motivated the proposal for a cap-and-trade program for carbon dioxide, with a "safety valve" that would mitigate against spikes in the cost of emission reductions by...

Implementation of new environmental regulations of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and mercury in the U.S. electricity industry has triggered concerns about system reliability. Results from a national electricity market simulation model suggest that these regulations lead to little change in...

What are the economic consequences of increased state spending on electricity consumption efficiency? The State of Maryland faces this question in deciding how much of its CO2 allowances auction proceeds (under the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative) to devote to such programs. Starting at a...

Three types of policies that are prominent in the federal debate over addressing greenhouse gas emissions in the United States are a cap-and-trade program (CTP) on emissions, a renewable portfolio standard (RPS) for electricity production, and tax credits for renewable electricity producers....

The EPA will issue rules regulating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from existing steam boilers and refineries in 2012. A crucial issue affecting the scope and cost of emissions reductions will be the potential introduction of flexibility in compliance, including averaging across groups of...

Tradable emissions allowance systems to reduce carbon emissions are increasingly promoted as means to mitigate climate change. This paper briefly reviews the application of such systems at the global, regional, and corporate scales. Given the recent expansion of cap-and-trade systems at the...