Trade and Environment

Via Sallie James of Cato, I came across this story: Minnesota recently enacted a plan to tax electricity generated by carbon-intensive methods in North Dakota--specifically, a carbon fee of $4 to $34 per ton of CO2 emissions in addition to the normal cost of coal power. Naturally, North Dakota'

My post on the WTO-legality of an import ban on nuclear waste generated a fair amount of discussion (including a reference to the movie Back to the Future!), so I thought I'd follow-up with this quote from Florida Rep. Cliff Stearns, who explains his opposition to the import

From Daniel Gros over at vox: The Commission has estimated that a carbon price of around the €40-50 per tonne would be required to reach the EU’s 2020 commitments. This would imply, at current exchange rates, about $50-70 per tonne. This might be too high for the US, where

The other day, I did a short post on a possible U.S. ban on imports of nuclear waste (the importation would be for processing and disposal here in the U.S.).  I didn't say anything about the legal issues, because I thought the conclusion was clear --

From Daniel Gros at VOX: Why a cap-and-trade system can be bad for your healthThe purpose of a cap-and-trade system is to help in the fight against global climate change. This column warns that a unilateral approach could increase global emissions by shifting production to more carbon-intensive methods abroad. Acting

The Economist has a good article discussing the likely trade conflicts arising from cap and trade measures.  They talk about the problem of countries reducing emissions by varying amounts, and the possibility of companies relocating production to "carbon havens."  According to the article, studies suggest that the scope

When I read about proposals to reduce tariffs on environmental goods and services, my sense is that, assuming trade negotiators can agree on anything these days, this should be a goal that is achievable.  On the other hand, subsidies and discriminatory government procurement in the area of clean energy seem

A difficult question from one of China's representatives to the WTO:"The United States per capita emission rate is four times as big as China's. Does that mean we can impose 400 percent tax rates on all imported American goods? If so, the result is

From thestar.com: The new Ontario requirement that grid-connected solar projects include a minimum amount of local content is causing a stir in Germany, where manufacturers say Canada is breaching its obligations to the World Trade Organization.... The new rules, which went into effect Oct. 1, require that small rooftop