Each week, I review the papers, studies, reports, and briefings posted over at the RFF Library Blog.
As Water Use in Gas Extraction Grows, Use in Coal Extraction Declines: Harvard Study
A new study co-authored by researchers at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, and the University of Calgary provides the first comprehensive representation of changing water consumption patterns associated with fuel extraction and power generation… - via Belfer Center, Kennedy School, Harvard Univ.
Why the Coal Industry Should Embrace a Carbon Tax
[From Executive Summary] …The only hope the industry has to meaningfully prolong its economic life is to support a carbon tax that would, as part of the deal, end EPA regulation of greenhouse gases. A carbon tax designed to achieve the same emission reductions sought under the Clean Power Plan (CPP) would be less punishing to the coal industry than current regulation. While a carbon tax designed to produce substantially greater emission reductions than the CPP could be costlier to the coal industry than existing regulation, the industry could likely secure a host of valuable aid and assistance in return for supporting a carbon tax bill. Such a package would, on balance, leave them better off economically than under the status quo. - via Niskanen Center
Assessment of Approaches to Updating the Social Cost of Carbon
The social cost of carbon (SCC) for a given year is an estimate, in dollars, of the present discounted value of the damage caused by a 1-metric ton increase in CO2 emissions into the atmosphere in that year; or equivalently, the benefits of reducing CO2 emissions by the same amount in that given year. The SCC is intended to provide a comprehensive measure of the monetized value of the net damages from global climate change from an additional unit of CO2, including, but not limited to, changes in net agricultural productivity, energy use, human health effects, and property damages from increased flood risk. Federal agencies use the SCC to value the CO2 emissions impacts of various policies including emission and fuel economy standards for vehicles, regulations of industrial air pollutants from industrial manufacturing, emission standards for power plants and solid waste incineration, and appliance energy efficiency standards. - via National Research Council
Flood Risks and Environmental Vulnerability
This report focuses on the role of floodplains in flood protection, water management, nature protection or agriculture and the impact of hydromorphological alterations on the ecosystem services that floodplains provide. The aim is to support the implementation of the EU Floods Directive (EU, 2007), in particular with regard to environmental impacts and how these can be linked to climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. It looks at synergies between water management, nature conservation and economic developments both in the field and on policy level. - via European Environment Agency
Mapping the Gap: The Road From Paris
[Green Energy Congress] To reach the level of investment in new renewable power generation needed to avert dangerous climate change, $12.1 trillion of investment will be needed over the next 25 years—$5.2 trillion above business-as-usual projections—according to a new report by Ceres and Bloomberg New Energy Finance. - via Ceres
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