On the Issues: Auto Tariffs, Funding Emergency Response, and More

Maya Krainc, Matt Fleck, and Elizabeth Wason

Twice a month, we’re compiling the most relevant news stories from diverse sources online, connecting the latest environmental and energy economics research to global current events, real-time public discourse, and policy decisions. Keep reading, and feel free to send us your feedback.

Here are some questions we’re asking and addressing with our research chops this week:

Will recent tariffs on cars and car parts achieve what’s been promised for boosting revenues and domestic manufacturing?

Most automobile parts that are imported into the United States are now subject to a 25 percent import tax, after the third wave of auto-related tariffs imposed by the Trump administration came into effect last week. Tariffs were imposed on imported aluminum, steel, vehicles, and certain auto parts in March. Nearly all cars that are assembled in the United States use imported parts. In a recent installment of the If/Then policy analysis series, Resources for the Future (RFF) researchers Beia Spiller and Joshua Linn evaluate the broader implications of these tariffs for the auto sector and consumers. “[Our modeling finds] that the tariffs would raise substantial revenue, though far less than the amount asserted by the Trump administration, and that the costs to consumers and producers would far outweigh the revenues,” they say.

Can states manage disaster mitigation with reduced federal support?

Potential reforms to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) (or its dissolution altogether) have cast uncertainty over federal assistance for natural disaster relief. The Trump administration has halted a grant program long administered by FEMA which has supported disaster recovery and mitigation efforts by states, and even previously approved projects have stalled. The administration also has signaled that states should shoulder more or complete responsibility for disaster response. In a new installment of RFF’s If/Then policy analysis series, Vice President for Research and Policy Engagement Carlos Martín examines how states historically have handled disaster mitigation and their potential capacity to absorb the added responsibilities. “Putting the entire burden of disaster mitigation efforts onto states, ultimately, could result in more damage losses and implementation challenges,” says Martín. Learn more about the functions of FEMA and the reliance on FEMA by state and local governments in a related In Focus video featuring Martín.

How are weather-modification technologies helping US states manage water resources?

The snowpack in Western US states, which is vital for supplying water resources, has been melting more quickly than usual, with potential consequences for water availability in places like New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah. In late April, the governor of Utah declared a state of emergency in 17 counties, in the midst of worsening drought conditions. To address these kinds of challenges over the long term, states have employed a technology known as cloud seeding—a type of weather modification that can be used to boost precipitation and snowpack (and reduce hail to protect crops from storm damage). Jonathan Jennings, president of the Weather Modification Association and a meteorologist at the Utah Division of Water Resources, joined Resources Radio last week to discuss how cloud seeding is being used to manage water and agricultural resources. “Long-term [cloud-seeding] projects can help replenish aquifers over time, increase agricultural production, and increase water supply for … reservoirs over a combination of years,” says Jennings.

Expert Perspectives

Proposed Cuts to Oil and Gas Royalty Rates in Budget Reconciliation Will Reduce Federal Revenues

Congressional Republicans continue to patch together a budget reconciliation bill, which allows certain legislative proposals to become law with support from a simple majority in the Senate. This week, the Committee on Natural Resources in the House of Representatives advanced a portion of the bill that deals with energy and land use.

“The cuts to royalty rates of the reconciliation bill advanced by the House Committee on Natural Resources would reduce the revenues paid by oil and gas companies extracting publicly owned oil and gas,” says RFF Fellow Brian C. Prest, who wrote this week in Common Resources about the effects of these provisions for the If/Then policy analysis series. “If royalty rates are cut as proposed, the reduction in royalty revenues would result in a loss of nearly $5 billion in federal revenues over the next decade and tens of billions of dollars thereafter. Oil- and gas-producing states, which share in the royalty revenues produced on federal lands, will suffer similar magnitudes of lost royalties.”

Resources Roundup

More Can Be Done to Reduce Exposure to Wildfire in High-Risk Areas

Construction and property development are increasing at the wildland-urban interface—areas where homes and businesses border undeveloped lands such as forests. These areas are vulnerable to wildfire, particularly for residents in the western United States. In a new report, RFF researchers Margaret Walls and Matthew Wibbenmeyer examine state and local policies that affect development in these vulnerable areas, local plans that aim to reduce wildfire risk, and recommendations for directing future development toward areas with less risk. “In most communities, these plans do not adequately address the exposure component of the wildfire risk problem or provide potential resilience solutions that address exposure,” say the authors.

Federal Support Could Help the Geothermal Energy Industry Heat Up

Geothermal energy—heat in the rocks beneath the surface of the Earth—is abundant in the United States and worldwide, yet federal support for research and development of technologies that can transform such energy into electricity has been relatively scant compared to support for other renewable energy technologies. In a new blog post, RFF Senior Advisor Jan Mares and Senior Fellow Alan Krupnick discuss the advantages of geothermal energy, how current problems with geothermal energy technologies might be addressed, and options for the federal government to bolster the geothermal energy industry in the United States. “Modest increases in federal support for geothermal energy development could help make this energy source available faster and at lower cost,” they say.

Assessing the Economic Toll of Wildfires on California

The damages from wildfires in California are increasing with the intensity and frequency of these fires, and the cost is borne by more than those who are directly affected. At a recent forum hosted by Stanford University, experts discussed the direct economic effects of wildfires in California—and the indirect economic effects of these wildfires, including the higher price of home insurance that covers fire damage and the consequences of wildfire smoke, which are “at least as large as the direct damages,” said RFF Fellow Matthew Wibbenmeyer, one of the panelists.

#ChartoftheWeek

Dams coincide with Native American reservations in multiple locations along the Upper Missouri River. “The Army Corps of Engineers was picking locations not necessarily based on how sound they were for engineering purposes. They were choosing these locations for dams based on who had the least political power and the least political sway,” says University of Denver Assistant Professor Angela Parker on this week’s episode of Resources Radio. “Basically, any time that the Missouri River crosses through an Indian reservation, you will see an Army Corps of Engineers dam.” Parker, an enrolled member of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Cree Tribes, explains the cultural and ecological importance of the river to Native communities, the historical migration of these communities northward along its banks, and how dams on the Missouri River displaced Tribes and disrupted their livelihoods. This map highlights the locations of Native reservations (in purple) relative to the locations of federal dams.

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