Authors: Richard Stewart, Michael Oppenheimer and Bryce Rudyk The Paris Agreement cemented a new framework for global climate policy based on the voluntary and non-legally binding emission reduction actions by both developed and developing countries. The building blocks strategy for climate action discussed in this Special Issue is well adapted to and strongly complements this […]
Authors: Bryce Rudyk and Danielle Spiegel-Feld For many Small Island Developing States (SIDS) the cost of producing electricity from imported fossil fuels is so high and the cost of renewable energy technology has fallen so significantly that transitioning towards renewable energy is likely to produce cost savings. A recent workshop at NYU School of Law, […]
Author: Matthew Christiansen On February 24, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Hughes v. Talen Energy Marketing. In deciding this case, the Court must determine whether an effort by the State of Maryland to incentivize the construction of new power plants is field preempted by the Federal Power Act (“FPA”)—that is, whether the Maryland law […]
Author: Benjamin Mandel The composition of utility revenues under performance-based regulation depends on the approach used to set base revenue allowances and the magnitude of financial performance incentives. For the most policy-responsive regime, regulators should pursue ‘integrated PBR’ by both broadening the set of performance incentives they offer and embracing benchmarking for base revenue allowances. This article, based on an […]
Author: Benjamin Mandel Traditional utility regulation provides inadequate incentives for electric utilities to invest in technologies that reduce network energy losses. This article examines how alternative regulatory designs influence such investments, and simulates the procurement and performance of distribution transformers under differing regulatory scenarios, to demonstrate the enormous potential benefits of a performance-based regulation scheme that targets network losses. This article is featured […]
Authors: Richard Stewart, Michael Oppenheimer and Bryce Rudyk This article presents an innovative institutional approach to supplement and ultimately strengthen the lagging United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) process for negotiating a climate treaty that commits major emitting and developed countries to greenhouse gas emissions limitations. The Durban Platform for Enhanced Action does […]
Authors: Richard Stewart, Michael Oppenheimer and Bryce Rudyk This essay proposes an innovative institutional strategy for global climate protection, quite distinct from but ultimately complementary to the UNFCCC climate treaty negotiations. Our “building block” strategy relies on a variety of smaller-scale transnational cooperative arrangements, involving not only states, but also sub-national jurisdictions, firms, and civil […]
Author: Katrina Wyman In recent years there have been suggestions that climate change might generate 200 million or more migrants by 2050. In response to these suggestions, and concerns that existing law and policy will be inadequate to deal with the expected displacement, there recently have been several proposals for new legally binding multilateral instruments […]
Author: Danielle Spiegel-Feld (with Stephanie Switzer) On January 30, 2012 the Appellate Body to the World Trade Organization (WTO) released a decision in China—Measures Relating to the Exportation of Various Raw Materials (Raw Materials) in which it condemned China’s refusal to freely export certain raw materials mined within its territory. Apart from the significant political implications of […]
Authors: Richard Stewart, Michael Oppenheimer and Bryce Rudyk The Durban Platform for Enhanced Action holds out the promise of progress towards a climate treaty that includes greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions limitations commitments by all major emitting countries, including developing as well as developed countries. But as the UNFCCC process still faces significant obstacles, it needs […]
