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Climate Change: The China Problem, Michael P. Vandenbergh
Climate Change: The China Problem, Michael P. Vandenbergh
Michael Vandenbergh
The central problem confronting climate change scholars and policymakers is how to create incentives for China and the United States to make prompt, large emissions reductions. China recently surpassed the United States as the largest greenhouse gas emitter, and its projected future emissions far outstrip those of any other nation. Although the United States has been the largest emitter for years, China's emissions have enabled critics in the United States to argue that domestic reductions will be ineffective and will transfer jobs to China. These two aspects of the China Problem, Chinese emissions and their influence on the political process …
Climate Change: The Equity Problem, Michael P. Vandenbergh, Brooke A. Ackerly
Climate Change: The Equity Problem, Michael P. Vandenbergh, Brooke A. Ackerly
Michael Vandenbergh
A substantial proportion of the United States population is at or below the poverty level, yet many of the greenhouse gas emissions reduction measures proposed or adopted to date will increase the costs of energy, motor vehicles, and other consumer goods. This essay suggests that although scholarship and policymaking to date have focused on the disproportionate impact of these increased costs on the low-income population, the costs will have two important additional effects. First, the anticipated costs will generate political opposition from social justice groups, reducing the likelihood that aggressive measures will be adopted. Second, to the extent aggressive measures …
Climate Change Governance: Boundaries And Leakage, Michael P. Vandenbergh, Mark A. Cohen
Climate Change Governance: Boundaries And Leakage, Michael P. Vandenbergh, Mark A. Cohen
Michael Vandenbergh
This article provides a critical missing piece to the global climate change governance puzzle: how to create incentives for the major developing countries to reduce carbon emissions. The major developing countries are projected to account for 80% of the global emissions growth over the next several decades, and substantial reductions in the risk of catastrophic climate change will not be possible without a change in this emissions path. Yet the global climate governance measures proposed to date have not succeeded and may be locking in disincentives as carbon-intensive production shifts from developed to developing countries. A multi-pronged governance approach will …