Learn more about CITRIS affiliated researchers John Zysman and Nina Kelsey’s work on climate policy in the Berkeley News article, “How to beat the climate crisis? Start with carrots“.
We find that the more green industries form or expand, the stronger the coalitions for decarbonizing energy systems become. This runs counter to the prevalent notion that pricing carbon is the first-best choice in climate policymaking.
Berkeley News: To speed up progress in tackling climate change, policymakers need to build political support by investing in clean-energy industries rather than first penalizing polluters, according to a new policy paper by UC Berkeley researchers.
In the paper, published today in the journal Science, a multidisciplinary team of environmental, political and legal experts finds that instead of emphasizing cap-and-trade schemes and penalties on greenhouse gas emissions — strategies considered to be most efficient by many economists — policymakers should begin by providing benefits through green industrial policies, such as subsidies and tax rebates.
The paper comes in advance of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, which will be held in Paris in December 2015.
“This paper is about how can we build political support for progress on climate policy, toward decarbonizing our energy systems,” said study lead author Jonas Meckling, an assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management. “We find that the more green industries form or expand, the stronger the coalitions for decarbonizing energy systems become. This runs counter to the prevalent notion that pricing carbon is the first-best choice in climate policymaking.”
‘Carrots buy sticks’
The authors noted that while green industrial policy may appear less efficient economically, supporting clean energy builds political support down the line for carbon regulation, such as carbon prices, that imposes costs on polluting industries. In essence, carrots buy sticks.
Read the full article from Berkeley News >
Read the Science paper: “Winning coalitions for climate policy”