Faculty from USC Price, the Tsinghua School and the Hertie School at the 2016 Energy Policy Forum
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On Oct. 6-7, faculty experts from the USC Price School of Public Policy, the Tsinghua School of Policy in Beijing, China, and the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin, Germany, came together to share research findings and discuss commonalities in the evolving energy and climate change policies of their respective countries, as part of the 2016 Energy Policy Forum. Held in Berlin, the Energy Policy Forum was the second of a three-year research partnership supported by the USC Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy and the USC Price School.
Price Dean Jack Knott, in his opening address, applauded the forum’s multi-national and multi-school research and policy engagement on the critically important issue of climate change. The deans of both the Tsinghua School and the Hertie School also attended.
Key themes of the forum spanned the role of governing institutions and climate change policy, from global to local levels, in fostering the energy transition to renewables. Policy strategies for encouraging renewables over conventional fossil fuels include cap-and-trade, feed-in-tariffs, and other market-based approaches. The forum also focused on advancing the adoption of new communication technologies that facilitate smart energy usage decisions, particularly at the household level.
A plenary session, titled “On the Road from Paris to Marrakech,” examined the likely implications of the then-pending presidential election may have on U.S. posture toward the nationally agreed upon pledges on climate change mitigation — the central topic to be taken up by the international community the following week in Marrakech.
Several members of the USC Schwarzenegger Institute research team participated in the forum. Research Professor Adam Rose presented on the equity implications of nationally determined contributions to reduce greenhouse gases. Research Professor Hilda Blanco moderated a panel on urban climate change mitigation policies. Professor Detlof von Winterfeldt presented a comparison of household energy footprints in Germany, the U.S. and China, and also served as a moderator of the panel on Household Energy Behavior. Research Assistant Professor Nicol Sintov shared her findings on household energy behavior in Southern California. Professor Daniel Mazmanian, co-organizer of the forum, presented a framework for comparing factors contributing to ambitious energy transition policies among nations and states. Mazmanian also participated in the plenary session.
The third and final forum will be hosted by the Schwarzenegger Institute and the Price School in October 2017.