Session Three: Market Approaches to Climate Governance

Event Details

3:30 – 5:15 p.m.

Abundant literature in the economics field documents the merits of market-based systems of environmental protection, with perhaps the most celebrated innovation involving the so-called "cap-and-trade" program established for sulfur dioxide emissions in the 1990s. This session examined the governance challenges of two oft-discussed alternatives that take a market approach, namely cap-and-trade and taxation schemes for carbon emissions meant to deter the use of fossil fuels.

Chair

Vivian Thomson, Department of Environmental Sciences, Department of Politics, University of Virginia; Vice Chair, State Air Pollution Control Board

Authors

Leigh Raymond, Purdue University – The Emerging Revolution in Carbon Emissions Trading Policy. Download Powerpoint Presentation.

Barry Rabe, University of Michigan – The "Impossible Dream" of Carbon Taxes: Is the "Best Answer" a Political Non-Starter? Download Powerpoint Presentation.

Discussants

Timothy Conlan, George Mason University

Christopher James, Synapse Energy Economics, Inc.

The National Conference on Climate Governance was made possible by grants from WestWind Foundation; Muhlenberg College; the Center for Local, State and Urban Policy at the University of Michigan's Gerald Ford School of Public Policy; Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation; Altria Group, Inc.; and an anonymous Charlottesville foundation.

Session One: Framing the Issue of Climate Governance

Session Two: Regulatory Approaches to Climate Governance