Advancing Environmental Justice Through Federal Regulatory Guidance
As the Biden administration continues to prioritize environmental justice, regulatory guidance aims to ensure that federal initiatives benefit disadvantaged communities. This Monday, October 28, RFF will host a webinar featuring discussions with RFF scholars and environmental justice specialists, including staff at the US Environmental Protection Agency, about opportunities to advance environmental justice in underserved communities through regulatory guidance. RSVP to join the virtual discussion.
White House Roundtable on Benefit-Cost Analysis Highlights Challenges and Opportunities
Last week, a subcommittee of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy presented a new report about the modernization of benefit-cost analysis. The subcommittee hosted a discussion with experts on benefit-cost analysis to highlight progress in the field and future opportunities for improvement. RFF President and CEO Billy Pizer and University Fellow Amy Ando took part in the discussion. “A key question that researchers need to think about is how to triage and prioritize what to study,” said Pizer. Check out the full discussion.
Navigating Carbon Dioxide Removal in California
Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) involves processes that capture and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in reservoirs such as forests, soils, oceans, and underground storage. To meet the goal in the Paris Agreement of limiting global warming to below 2°C, CDR must complement efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, few countries have established goals for CDR, and policy efforts to finance and scale up CDR remain underdeveloped. In a new study, RFF scholars explore the design and policy challenges of developing a CDR program in California, offering insights on scaling CDR technologies while ensuring environmental justice. “Policymakers must ensure that reliable CDR gets built and used, with technologies that are reasonably ready for commercial-scale application; that investments are cost-effective; and that equity and fairness issues are addressed with attention to community effects, community participation, environmental protection, and environmental justice,” say the authors.
Exploring the Effects on Air Quality of Various Designs for a Cap-Trade-and-Invest System in New York State
The design of environmental policies can shape the distribution of air quality in a given area and help ensure that health benefits are equitably distributed across communities, particularly those that have historically faced higher levels of pollution. In a new issue brief, RFF scholars Alan Krupnick, Wesley Look, and Molly Robertson partner with experts from the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance to analyze the effects on air quality of various designs of a cap-trade-and-invest system in New York State. The researchers conclude that a policy design involving obligations for the electricity sector and restricted trading significantly improves air quality in New York State, especially for disadvantaged communities. “As policymakers consider the design of cap-trade-and-invest, it is important to evaluate how even small changes in program design may impact the distribution of emissions and, ultimately, community air quality,” say the authors.
Balancing Efficiency and Equity in Water Rates
Municipal water pricing affects both resource management and social equity, as water utilities strive to set rates that cover costs, encourage conservation, and minimize the financial burden on low-income households. In a new study, RFF University Fellow Casey Wichman explores how water utilities often set rates that lead to the inefficient use of water and budget shortfalls and suggests that fairer pricing could improve both efficiency and affordability. “Using rate structure and municipal finance data for more than 700 utilities, I show that prices are discounted severely for low levels of consumption within nonlinear rate structures, leading to suboptimal usage and budget deficits, particularly in poorer and smaller communities,” Wichman says.
