China's Emerging Policies for Emissions Reductions, with Dick Morgenstern

Published: May 19, 2020, 3:57 p.m.

b'Along with several co-authors, Resources for the Future (RFF) Senior Fellow Dick Morgenstern has recently released an RFF working paper on China\\u2019s new emissions trading program: a \\u201ctradable performance standard,\\u201d which sets a ratio of emissions to output that individual firms have to meet. Host Daniel Raimi talks with Morgenstern in this episode about the goals of the trading program, how it\'s designed, some of its strengths and weaknesses, and how the policy fits into the framework of international negotiations on climate change. While the standard is not as efficient as more typical models, it stands to significantly reduce emissions once it expands beyond the power sector\\u2014without necessarily curbing China\\u2019s economic growth.\\n\\nReferences and recommendations:\\n\\n"China\'s Unconventional Nationwide CO2 Emissions Trading System: The Wide-Ranging Impacts of an Implicit Output Subsidy" by Lawrence H. Goulder, Xianling Long, Jieyi Lu, and Richard D. Morgenstern; https://www.rff.org/publications/working-papers/chinas-unconventional-nationwide-co2-emissions-trading-system/\\n\\n"The Wizard and the Prophet" by Charles C. Mann; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/220698/the-wizard-and-the-prophet-by-charles-c-mann/\\n\\n"Alaskan glaciers melting 100 times faster than previously thought" by Jenny Howard; https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/07/alaskan-glaciers-melting-faster-than-previously-thought/ (and other "National Geographic" glacier coverage)\\n\\n"The Big Thaw" by Daniel Glick; https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/big-thaw/ (and other "National Geographic" glacier coverage)'