March 14, 2014
Confronting Climate Change: Economics, Fairness, And Political Feasibility
Dr. Lawrence H. Goulder, Stanford University
How can climate change policies be designed to be not only environmentally effective but also cost-effective and fair? And how can they be made more acceptable politically? Lawrence Goulder's talk will explore how these different and often competing goals can be approached. While acknowledging that no perfect approach exists, he will suggest some potentially promising directions, drawing from academic research and recent climate-policy experience at the national and international levels. In considering these issues he will explore the potential roles for carbon taxes, cap and trade, performance standards, and direct technology promotion.
Lawrence H. Goulder is the Shuzo Nishihara Professor in Environmental and Resource Economics at Stanford University and Director of the Stanford Center for Environmental and Energy Policy Analysis. He is also the Kennedy-Grossman Fellow in Human Biology at Stanford, a Senior Fellow at Stanford's Institute for Economic Policy Research, a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and a University Fellow of Resources for the Future. Goulder's research covers a range of environmental issues, including green tax reform, the design of cap-and-trade systems, climate change policy, and comprehensive wealth measurement ("green" accounting). He has served as co-editor of the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management and on several advisory committees to the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Science Advisory Board and the California Air Resources Board.