Evaluating Emissions Reductions through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative: A State and Plant-Level Analysis
by Nicholas Vassilios Papavassiliou Abstract In this study, I examine the impact of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) on emission reductions in the electricity sector, focusing on three critical dimensions. First, I analyze temporal trends in emissions reductions to evaluate whether previously demonstrated progress has slowed as states exhaust low-cost mitigation pathways. Second, I […]
The True Cost: An Aggregate Analysis of the Advanced Clean Cars II Policy
by Lauren Mackenzie Sizemore Abstract Global climate change, emphasis on the global, requires local solutions. Every entity plays a role, some more than others. Yet, when improvements in pollution or emissions in one region leads to more problems in another, how is the net cost or benefit to be deciphered for the environment, for the […]
Responses to EU Carbon Pricing: The Effect of Carbon Emissions Allowances on Renewable Energy Development in Advanced and Transitional EU Members
By John Dearing Using electricity price, generation, installed capacity, and carbon price data from the European Union from January 2015 to December 2018, this study finds that the carbon pricing in the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) incentivizes electricity sector carbon emission reductions through renewable energy deployment only for economically advanced EU members. […]
The Effect of Federal Regulations on the Outcomes of Auctions for Oil and Gas Leaseholds
By Artur Shikhaleev This thesis attempts to analyze the impact of the differences in regulatory frameworks that govern state-owned and federally-owned lands on the outcomes of auctions for oil and natural gas leaseholds in the state of New Mexico. The analysis tries to isolate the effect of ownership by controlling for auction structure, leasehold characteristics, and […]
Race and Pollution Correlation as Predictor of Environmental Injustice
By Marissa Meir Environmental injustice is a theory that claims distributions of toxic, hazardous and dangerous waste facilities are disproportionately located in low-income communities of color. This paper empirically demonstrates an alternative cause of environmental injustice- that low-income minorities are less likely to receive sizeable enough loans to buy a house in a cleaner area. […]
After the Storm Impacts of natural disasters in the United States at the state and county level
By Danjie Fang Empirical research on the impact of natural disasters on economic growth has provided contradictory results and few studies have focused on the United States. In this thesis, I bridge the gap by examining the merits of existing claims on the relationship between natural disasters and growth at the states and county level […]
