Environmental Insights: Conversations on policy and practice from the Harvard Environmental Economics Program

Behavioral economist Hunt Allcott, Professor of Global Environmental Policy at the Doerr School of Sustainability at Stanford University, questioned the impact of new and used electric vehicle (EV) subsidies in the newest episode of “Environmental Insights: Discussions on Policy and Practice from the Harvard Environmental Economics Program.” The podcast is produced by the Harvard Environmental Economics Program. Read a transcription of the podcast here: https://www.belfercenter.org/sites/default/files/files/publication/hunt-allcott-podcast-transcript.pdf.

UCLA Law School Professor Kimberly Clausing gives the Biden Administration high praise for its climate policies in the newest episode of “Environmental Insights: Discussions on Policy and Practice from the Harvard Environmental Economics Program.” The podcast is produced by the Harvard Environmental Economics Program. Read a transcript of the podcast: https://www.belfercenter.org/sites/default/files/files/publication/kim-clausing-podcast-transcript.pdf.

Eminent Harvard economist Richard Zeckhauser presented arguments for additional climate adaptation measures in the newest episode of “Environmental Insights: Discussions on Policy and Practice from the Harvard Environmental Economics Program.” The podcast is produced by the Harvard Environmental Economics Program. Read a transcript of the podcast: https://www.belfercenter.org/sites/default/files/files/publication/richard-zeckhauser-podcast-transcript.pdf

Amy Harder, the founding Executive Editor of the climate policy publication Cipher News, expressed her surprise with several positive outcomes from the recent 28th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 28) in Dubai during a special episode of “Environmental Insights: Discussions on Policy and Practice from the Harvard Environmental Economics Program.” The podcast is produced by the Harvard Environmental Economics Program. Read a transcript of the podcast: https://www.belfercenter.org/sites/default/files/files/publication/amy-harder-podcast-transcript.pdf

With 28th Conference of the Parties (COP 28) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change well underway, Jonathan Banks, the global director of the Methane Pollution Prevention Program at the Clean Air Task Force (CATF), is the guest in a special mid-COP episode of “Environmental Insights: Discussions on Policy and Practice from the Harvard Environmental Economics Program.” The podcast is produced by the Harvard Environmental Economics Program. Read a transcript of the interview: https://www.belfercenter.org/sites/default/files/files/publication/jonathan-banks-podcast-transcript.pdf

With the start of the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP 28) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change just days away, environmental economist Nat Keohane is expressing optimism that the new global stocktake will incentivize participating nations to step up their collective efforts to slow the rise of global temperatures. Keohane is the guest in a special pre-COP episode of “Environmental Insights: Discussions on Policy and Practice from the Harvard Environmental Economics Program.” The podcast is produced by the Harvard Environmental Economics Program. Read a transcript of the podcast: https://www.belfercenter.org/sites/default/files/files/publication/nat-keohane-podcast-transcript.pdf

Economic historian Emma Rothschild, the Jeremy and Jane Knowles Professor of History at Harvard, lauded the efforts of young scholars to discover local solutions to mitigate the impacts of global climate change in the latest episode of “Environmental Insights: Discussions on Policy and Practice from the Harvard Environmental Economics Program.” The podcast is produced by the Harvard Environmental Economics Program. Read a transcript of the interview: https://www.belfercenter.org/sites/default/files/files/publication/emma-rothschild-podcast-transcript-v2.pdf.

Michael Toffel, Senator John Heinz Professor of Environmental Management and Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School (HBS), discusses the many ways in which business and governments can and are working together to address climate change in the latest episode of “Environmental Insights: Discussions on Policy and Practice from the Harvard Environmental Economics Program.” The podcast is produced by the Harvard Environmental Economics Program. Read a transcript of the interview: https://www.belfercenter.org/sites/default/files/files/publication/michael-toffel-podcast-transcript.pdf

Energy economist Severin Borenstein, Professor of the Graduate School at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, discussed the many significant challenges facing the nation’s electricity power sector in the latest episode of “Environmental Insights: Discussions on Policy and Practice from the Harvard Environmental Economics Program.” The podcast is produced by the Harvard Environmental Economics Program. Read a transcript of the podcast: https://www.belfercenter.org/sites/default/files/files/publication/severin-borenstein-podcast-transcript.pdf

Energy economist Karen Palmer, renowned for her research on the nation’s electric power sector, shared her insights on electricity regulation and deregulation, carbon pricing, and climate change policy in the latest episode of “Environmental Insights: Discussions on Policy and Practice from the Harvard Environmental Economics Program.” Read a transcript of the interview: https://www.belfercenter.org/sites/default/files/files/publication/karen-palmer-podcast-transcript.pdf

Resource economist UC Berkeley Professor Meredith Fowlie spoke about the complex regulatory challenges and ‘just transition’ dynamics of climate policy in the latest episode of “Environmental Insights: Discussions on Policy and Practice from the Harvard Environmental Economics Program.” The podcast is produced by the Harvard Environmental Economics Program. Read a transcript of the podcast: https://www.belfercenter.org/sites/default/files/files/publication/meredith-fowlie-podcast-transcript.pdf

Renowned environmental economist Kathleen Segerson, who in addition to her academic and scholarly research and teaching has served on numerous state, national, and international advisory boards, expressed her frustration with the political polarization of climate policy in the newest episode of “Environmental Insights: Discussions on Policy and Practice from the Harvard Environmental Economics Program.” The podcast is produced by the Harvard Environmental Economics Program. Read a transcript of the interview: https://www.belfercenter.org/sites/default/files/files/publication/kathleen-segerson-podcast-transcript-6-1-2023.pdf

Esteemed economist Geoffrey Heal lauded recent technological advancements while also expressing his frustration with the impact of international efforts to combat climate change policy during the newest episode of “Environmental Insights: Discussions on Policy and Practice from the Harvard Environmental Economics Program.” The podcast is produced by the Harvard Environmental Economics Program. Read a transcript of the podcast: https://www.belfercenter.org/sites/default/files/files/publication/geoffrey-heal-podcast-transcript.pdf.

Visionary environmental regulator Mary Nichols, whose groundbreaking work as Chair of the California Air Resources Board (CARB) helped pave the way for many of the nation’s current environmental laws and regulations, shared her perspectives on her California and Washington D.C. experience during the newest episode of “Environmental Insights: Discussions on Policy and Practice from the Harvard Environmental Economics Program.” The podcast is produced by the Harvard Environmental Economics Program. Read a transcript of the podcast here: https://www.belfercenter.org/sites/default/files/files/publication/mary_nichols_podcast_transcript.pdf.

Harvard University Professor James Stock, who serves as Harvard's inaugural Vice Provost for Climate and Sustainability and director of the new Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability, expressed his hopes for a smooth domestic energy transition during the newest episode of “Environmental Insights: Discussions on Policy and Practice from the Harvard Environmental Economics Program.” The podcast is produced by the Harvard Environmental Economics Program. Read a transcript of the interview here: https://www.belfercenter.org/sites/default/files/files/publication/james-stock-podcast-transcription-v2.pdf

Having served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Climate & Energy Economics in the U.S. Department of the Treasury in 2021-2022, Catherine Wolfram has some particularly relevant insights to offer on the development and implementation of climate change policy. Wolfram is the Cora Jane Flood Professor of Business Administration at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, and is currently on leave at the Harvard Kennedy School. She discussed her time in government service and her thoughts and hopes for a carbon pricing scheme during the newest episode of “Environmental Insights: Discussions on Policy and Practice from the Harvard Environmental Economics Program,” a podcast produced by the Harvard Environmental Economics Program. Read a transcript of the interview here: https://www.belfercenter.org/sites/default/files/files/publication/catherine-wolfram-podcast-transcript.pdf

While the Paris Agreement provides the framework for the nations of the world to slow the growth of CO2 emissions, additional policy and technological tools will have to be deployed to meet the challenge of climate change. That’s the perspective expressed by Daniel Bodansky, the Regents’ Professor of Law at the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law at Arizona State University, during the newest episode of “Environmental Insights: Discussions on Policy and Practice from the Harvard Environmental Economics Program,” a podcast produced by the Harvard Environmental Economics Program. Read a transcript of the interview here: https://www.belfercenter.org/sites/default/files/files/publication/daniel-bodansky-podcast-transcript.pdf

Agreement by negotiators at the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP-27) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt earlier this month on an international fund to provide funding for small nations suffering from climate change was a significant outcome. Yet the inability to achieve substantive commitments by nations to increase their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) was a disappointment. That’s the perspective offered by Billy Pizer, the Vice President for Research and Policy Engagement at Resources for the Future, during the newest episode of “Environmental Insights: Discussions on Policy and Practice from the Harvard Environmental Economics Program,” a podcast produced by the Harvard Environmental Economics Program. Read a transcript of the podcast here: https://www.belfercenter.org/sites/default/files/files/publication/billy-pizer-podcast-transcript-november-2022-2v.pdf

The negotiators gathering this week for the 27th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP-27) in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt will tackle a multitude of important issues, with questions relating to increased ambition and financial reparations among those at the top of the agenda. That’s the perspective offered by Ray Kopp, Senior Fellow at Resources for the Future, during the newest episode of “Environmental Insights: Discussions on Policy and Practice from the Harvard Environmental Economics Program,” a podcast produced by the Harvard Environmental Economics Program. Read the transcript of this podcast here: https://tinyurl.com/mtbrpk26.

The explosion of youth climate activism in recent years has focused the world’s attention on the problem like never before, but Michael Greenstone, the Milton Friedman Distinguished Service Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago, argues that young activists often err by trying to turn climate change into a moral issue rather than an environmental one. Greenstone shared his thoughts during the newest episode of “Environmental Insights: Discussions on Policy and Practice from the Harvard Environmental Economics Program,” a podcast produced by the Harvard Environmental Economics Program. Read a transcript of the interview here: https://www.belfercenter.org/sites/default/files/files/publication/michael-greenstone-podcast-transcript-oct-6-2022.pdf