Public deliberation over climate change has traditionally been dominated by the natural and physical sciences. Is the planet warming? To what degree, and is mankind responsible? How big a problem is this, really? But concurrent with these debates is the question of what should be done. Indeed, what can be done? Issues of governance, including the political feasibility of certain policies and their capacity for implementation, have received short shrift in the conversation. But they absolutely must be addressed as we respond to this unprecedented challenge. Greenhouse Governance brings a much-needed public policy mindset to discussion of climate change in America. Greenhouse Governance features a number of America's preeminent public policy scholars, examining some aspect of governance and climate change. They analyze the state and influence of American public opinion on climate change as well as federalism and intergovernmental relations, which prove especially important since state and local governments have taken a more active role than originally expected. Specific policy issues examined include renewable electricity standards, mandating greater vehicle fuel economy, the "adaptation vs. mitigation" debate, emissions trading, and carbon taxes. The contributors do consider the scientific and economic questions of climate policy but place special emphasis on political and managerial issues. They analyze the role of key American government institutions including the courts, Congress, and regulatory agencies. The final two chapters put the discussion into an international context, looking at climate governance challenges in North America, relations with the European Union, and possible models for international governance. Contributors include Christopher Borick, Muhlenberg College; Martha Derthick, University of Virginia; Kirsten Engel, University of Arizona; Marc Landy, Boston College; Pietro Nivola, Brookings Institution; P

Permit trading is an environmental policy instrument that has received increasing levels of attention over recent years. Coming from the field of air quality management, with the European CO2 emissions trading system being the most prominent example, it enters new fields of application, such as land use policy and biodiversity protection, water quality and water quantity trading. This book gives an overview of these recent developments and discusses the possibilities and limits of permit trading in environmental policies. The advantages of permit trading are not only seen with respect to economic efficiency, which leads to achieving the environmental target at minimum cost, but also with respect to the instrument’s environmental effectiveness. By setting a cap for the overall emissions, a given environmental target can be met. This makes permit trading an interesting case for many environmental fields where safeguarding the environmental target plays a dominant role. Against this background, permit trading is discussed in environmental policy fields, where it has not been considered before, for example, land use management, biodiversity protection and water trading. Permit Trading in Different Applications analyses the properties of permit trading: its possibilities and limitations, its design options and its restrictions on a more general level. It demonstrates how lessons learnt in established policy fields like air quality management can be transferred to new and emerging fields of application. This collection will provide students and practitioners in environmental sciences and policy with valuable research into instrument choice and design with respect to permit trading.

Successfully Measure the Benefits of Green Design and Construction Sustainability in Engineering Design and Construction outlines the sustainable practices used in engineering design and construction operations for all types of engineering and construction projects. Aimed at ushering the engineering and construction industry into embracing sustainable practices and green construction techniques, this book addresses sustainability in engineering design and construction operations from a historical and global perspective, and delves into specific sustainability concepts and processes. The book explains the concepts of sustainable development, corporate social responsibility (CSR), the Dow Jones Global Sustainability Index (DJGSI), key performance indicators (KPIs), corporate sustainability, and the triple bottom line (economic, environmental, and social values in design and construction). Relevant to sustainability in every facet of engineering and construction, it also covers life-cycle environmental cost analysis, discusses sustainable engineering and site selection, the economic considerations evaluated when making sustainability decisions, and explains how to measure and quantify sustainable performance and apply these practices in the real world. It also covers project and corporate level sustainability practices, sustainable construction materials and processes, sustainable heavy construction equipment, traditional and alternative energy sources, provides implementation resources for starting and evaluating sustainability programs, and includes a checklist for measuring the sustainability of construction operations. The text contains detailed information on sustainable construction materials and processes, heavy construction equipment, and traditional and alternative energy sources. It presents information on sustainable designs, selecting sustainable sites, designing for passive survivability, designing for disassembly, and the ISO 14,000 standards. It provides implementation resources for starting and evaluating sustainability programs and a checklist for measuring the sustainability of construction operations In addition, it provides definitions of sustainability terms and expressions, as well as case studies, examples, discussion questions, and a list of supplemental references at the end of each chapter. This book provides information on: Definitions for sustainability terms Sources for locating global sustainability requirements Current sustainability issues Environmental laws related to sustainability and their implications Sustainable design Life-cycle cost assessment models Sustainable practices currently being used in the engineering and construction (E&C) industry Corporate-level sustainability practices Project-level sustainability practices Global sustainability trends and implications Sustainable materials Sustainable heavy construction equipment Traditional and alternative energy sources LEED Green Building Rating System Sustainability organizations and certification programs Sustainability implementation resources A summary of sustainable engineering design and construction

A rigorous and innovative approach for integrating environmental policies and fiscal reform for the U.S. economy. Energy utilization, especially from fossil fuels, creates hidden costs in the form of pollution and environmental damages. The costs are well documented but are hidden in the sense that they occur outside the market, are not reflected in market prices, and are not taken into account by energy users. Double Dividend presents a novel method for designing environmental taxes that correct market prices so that they reflect the true cost of energy. The resulting revenue can be used in reducing the burden of the overall tax system and improving the performance of the economy, creating the double dividend of the title. The authors simulate the impact of environmental taxes on the U.S. economy using their Intertemporal General Equilibrium Model (IGEM). This highly innovative model incorporates expectations about future prices and policies. The model is estimated econometrically from an extensive 50-year dataset to incorporate the heterogeneity of producers and consumers. This approach generates confidence intervals for the outcomes of changes in economic policies, a new feature for models used in analyzing energy and environmental policies. These outcomes include the welfare impacts on individual households, distinguished by demographic characteristics, and for society as a whole, decomposed between efficiency and equity.