Bipartisan Conversation on Pricing Carbon Emissions from Security & Sustainability Forum on Vimeo.
Aired on 8/29/2018
While federal progress on climate change may have stalled, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and others on the right and left have reinvigorated efforts to use market incentives to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Watch this important conversation hosted by Arizona State University’s Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability, as our panelists explore these questions and more:
- What are the most likely pathways towards pricing carbon emissions?
- Will federal or state legislative efforts gain greater traction?
- What solutions will generate bipartisan support?
Watch Senator Sheldon Whitehouse as he discusses current efforts to price carbon emissions. Co-sponsored by Arizona State University and moderated by Robert Litterman, co-founder of Kepos Capital, this panel explores questions such as: What is the most promising legislative pathway to pricing carbon emissions? What does a bipartisan solution look like? Where should legislative efforts focus – at the state or federal level? Joining Sen. Whitehouse and Mr. Litterman are Jerry Taylor, president of the Niskanen Center; Ted Halstead, chairman and CEO of the Climate Leadership Center; and Nathaniel Keohane, Senior Vice President at Environmental Defense Fund.
PANELISTS:
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) is a member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and cofounder of the Senate Climate Action Task Force. In 2018, he co-sponsored the American Opportunity Carbon Fee Act (S. 2368 and H.R. 4926), which would implement a carbon tax.
Robert Litterman, moderator, is a founding partner of Kepos Capital, a registered investment adviser based in New York City that employs systematic macro strategies to manage over $3 billion in assets for a global, institutional investor base. He retired in 2009 after a 23-year career at Goldman, Sachs & Co., where he served in research, risk management, investments and thought leadership roles. Bob currently serves on the boards of World Wildlife Fund, the Commonfund, Options Clearing Corporation, Resources for the Future, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Sloan Foundation.
Jerry Taylor is the president of the Niskanen Center, which posits that “any reasonable risk management exercise points toward immediate decarbonization” and promotes carbon taxation. Prior to founding the Center in 2014, Mr. Taylor spent 23 years at the Cato Institute.
Nathaniel Keohane is Senior Vice President at the Environmental Defense Fund, where he leads EDF’s climate program and helps to shape the organization’s advocacy for environmentally effective and economically sound climate policy. Nat’s areas of expertise include the design and performance of cap-and-trade programs and other policy instruments.
Ted Halstead is Chairman, CEO and founder of the Climate Leadership Council. Its mission is to convene global opinion leaders around the most cost-effective, popular and equitable climate solutions. Previously, Halstead founded New America, a centrist public policy institute where he served as President and CEO from 1999 to 2007.
