Resources for the Future Podcast

Does modern biotechnology have a role to play in forest health? Are there situations for which genetic modification should be considered to protect US forests? At this seminar, panelists from the Institute of Forest Biotechnology, the US Endowment for Forestry and Communities, and the US Forest Service considered forests and the Forest Health Initiative (FHI), as it seeks to determine whether biotechnology could be used to address forest health issues related to climate change, insects, and diseases.

Concerns have been raised in the popular press and elsewhere that an influx of speculators drove the price of oil to unprecedented heights in 2008, and that it may now be happening again. Although futures markets play an important role in our economy, do we need more safeguards to prevent financial traders from manipulating prices? Panelists from Resources from the Future, Syracuse University, American University, and ClearView Energy Partners reviewed the claims and counterclaims, presented evidence gleaned from ongoing research, and discussed the still-to-be completed process of reform that was mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010.

At this First Wednesday Seminar, panelists explored what “green infrastructure” means and described how to evaluate the costs and benefits of land-use options for reducing flood damages. They also discussed the challenges of convincing stakeholders that natural systems can provide infrastructure services and complement public projects.

During this RFF First Wednesday Seminar, panelists from Resources for the Future, the U.S. Department of State, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service examine recent efforts to quantify the impacts of invasive species on the Great Lakes ecosystem, discuss cost-efficient strategies to manage new and established invaders, and explore how cross-jurisdictional spread of invasive species hinders management.

The IPCC (2006) has supported the view that wood biomass is “carbon neutral” in that its use for bioenergy has zero net carbon emissions since the emissions released in its utilization for energy are subsequently captured in forest regrowth. This generally accepted view, however, has recently come under increasing criticism from various sources.

RFF Senior Fellow Richard Morgenstern sat down to discuss the impact of government regulation on employment. An edited version of his conversation appears in Resources Magazine, no. 179, available at www.rff.org/resources.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) may soon propose Clean Air Act rules regulating the largest class of greenhouse gas emitters: coal-fired power plants. With climate policy off the congressional agenda, these and other rules under the act have taken center stage in the formulation of U.S. policy for limiting carbon emissions. But what will the rules for coal plants look like? Research at RFF and elsewhere over the past year has aimed to both understand what EPA may do and provide input into the agency’s decisionmaking process. This RFF First Wednesday seminar presented some of the results of this research, along with a broader discussion of the Clean Air Act as a pathway for climate policy.

This year RFF’s Center for Energy Economics and Policy (CEEP) launched an initiative to identify the priority risks associated with shale gas development and recommend strategies for responsible development. The research team will survey expert opinion and public perceptions to determine the most significant risks and the behaviors of industry and regulators that influence those risks. Pairing these findings with analysis of existing state and federal policies and voluntary industry actions will lead to recommendations for how to improve the management of shale gas development.

International buyers of forest products know the importance of identifying sustainable and legal sources—they also know this is challenging in today’s complex global markets. Around the world, private and public procurement policies are focusing on ways to eliminate illegal fiber from supply chains. This includes a shift from voluntary to mandatory government regulations, such as the amended Lacey Act in the United States and the European Union Timber Regulation. At this RFF First Wednesday seminar, panelists looked at the impacts of this critical international issue, the changing regulatory regime, and some of the tools available to help buyers avoid illegal forest products. They explored the role of third-party forest certification in forest trade and previewed the Forest Legality Alliance’s new risk information tool.

In recent years, observers have speculated that the American public has become increasingly skeptical about the existence and potential threat of climate change and that the public desire for action by government on this issue has declined. Stanford University’s Jon Krosnick presented new survey evidence tracking public opinion in the nation to explore what changes have occurred across the population and in population subgroups. In addition, Krosnick presented the results of a new study examining whether candidates' positions on climate change policy have influenced their electoral success.