USC Price School of Public Policy Research Professor Adam Rose was interviewed on the KNX Radio Morning News Hour on September 8 about the recent passage of California climate change legislation.
Two segments aired in which Professor Rose provided insights into the implications of legislation. First, he noted that, while many industry representatives have predicted that severe negative impacts will ensue, the history of previous climate change regulation – and environmental regulation in general – has not witnessed such an outcome. Typically, businesses find ways to minimize the costs of these regulations once they are imposed. Moreover, for those economic sectors especially sensitive to climate change legislation, such as the oil refining industry, there is always the possibility of government assistance. For example, revenue from auctioning greenhouse gas (GHG) emission allowances can be used to buffer severe negative impacts on industry in the future, even if current legislation does not call for such uses of the these revenues.
Rose also pointed out that the recently passed legislation bodes well for the continuation of California’s “cap and trade” system. The system enables emitters of GHGs to purchase allowances at a cost significantly lower than the cost of mitigation, and thus is likely to now gain more industry support.
Professor Rose has been active in climate change mitigation policy analysis and advising for 25 years. He was a member of the United Nations research team that developed the first formal proposal for a system of globally tradable GHG emission allowances, which was presented at the Rio Earth Summit first meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1992.
Over the past eight years, Professor Rose, in collaboration with Price School Research Assistant Professor Dan Wei, have advised state and regional governments on the development of cap and trade systems and have analyzed the macroeconomic impacts of climate action plans. They have performed studies for the Florida Governor’s Office, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Wisconsin Public Service Commission, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, New Mexico Environment Improvement Board, Minnesota State Legislature, and the Midwest Governors Association. More recently, they analyzed the effects of the California Global Climate Change Solutions Act (AB32) for the Southern California Association of Governments on the economy of its region and analyzed the income distribution impacts of AB32 on the state for the Next 10 Foundation, including distributional impacts of alternative cap and trade revenue recycling options.