Each week, I review the papers, studies, reports, and briefings posted over at the RFF Library Blog.
Oil Fee Issues
[Oil and Gas Journal] A new Congressional Research Service (CRS) report examines eight important questions about US President Barack Obama’s proposed crude oil tax, US Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chair Lisa Murkowski (R-Alas.) said as she released a third CRS study following the president’s initial announcement (OGJ Online, Feb. 4, 2016). - via Congressional Research Service
The Future of the Canadian Oil Sands
Though the Canadian oil sands may have been overlooked in recent years, due to the impressive story of North American tight oil growth, their massive bitumen deposits still comprise a major portion of the world’s crude resources. With an estimated 170 billion barrels of economically proven reserves (amidst the 1.7-2.5 trillion barrels of oil in place in this northern region in the province of Alberta), the oil sands region itself represents approximately 10% of global reserves. - via Oxford Institute for Energy Studies
How to Use Carbon Tax Revenues
We organize the options into four goals:
- offset the new burdens that a carbon tax places on consumers, producers, communities, and the broader economy;
- support further efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions;
- ameliorate the harms of climate disruption; and
- fund unrelated public priorities.
We identify important tradeoffs across the goals and make several recommendations for policy design. Revenue neutrality, for example, can assuage public concerns about expanding government, but spending may be better than tax reductions for achieving some goals. - via Brookings Institution
A Performance-based Approach To Allowance Allocation For Clean Power Plan Compliance
[From a Climate Wire article by Emily Holden, sub. req’d] …A new from the Advanced Energy Economy Institute lays out guidelines for the type of trading system that the green business group says would be best for consumers and would make it easier for all emissions-reduction technologies — including renewable power and energy efficiency — to compete… - via Advanced Energy Economy Institute
China’s CO2 Emissions Fell in 2015 Due to Decline in Coal Use and Promotion of Renewables
[Yale Environment 360] China’s greenhouse gas emissions fell for the second year in a row in 2015, down 1 to 2 percent, according to a Greenpeace analysis of new data released by China’s National Bureau Statistics. China reduced its coal consumption 3.7 percent in 2015, and installed 32.5 gigawatts (GW) of wind and 18.3 GW of solar power. The country’s recent economic slowdown also helped reduce emissions. China is currently the world’s largest emitter of CO2, responsible for nearly a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions. At a UN climate conference in Paris in December, China pledged to peak its emissions by 2030 and boost renewables. “These statistics show that China is on track to far surpass its Paris climate targets,” said Lauri Myllyvirta, a senior global campaigner on coal for Greenpeace. “However, the trend is not moving as fast as it could.” - via National Bureau of Statistics China
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